Sri Lanka beat New Zealand by 45 runs (DLS method) on Wednesday (November 13) in Dambulla. This is Sri Lanka's maiden ODI victory over New Zealand since 2015. Kusal Mendis' swashbuckling 143 and Avishka Fernando's classical 100 helped the hosts post a massive 324 on the board. In reply, New Zealand succumbed infront of the venomous spin and failed to chase down the total.

Opting to bat first, Pathum Nissanka fell to Jacob Duffy cheaply. Avishka Fernando and Kusal Mendis stitched a partnership. The duo started cautiously and then slowly started scoring boundaries at a bulk rate. The duo strung together for a marathon partnership of 206 runs. Avishka brought up a classical hundred and then departed immediately to Ish Sodhi.

Kusal Mendis then went berserk over the Kiwi bowlers and blasted a sensational 143 off only 128 balls and some late blitz [40 off 28] from Charith Asalanka helped the Lankans get to 324-5 from 49.2 overs. After then rain arrived in the action.

Due to the heavy rain the match was reduced to 27 overs each and the target was set to 221 runs.

In reply, New Zealand started off to a flier through Will Young and Tim Robinson. The duo were scoring over six per over. The duo added 88 runs on the opening stand. And then Maheesh Theekshana came in and triggered a spectacular collapse as the Kiwis were reduced to 110-5 from 88-0.

The asking rate soon upped to double after the wicket surge at the middle. And New Zealand never recovered. Michael Bracewell stayed till the end as he made 34* off 32 but couldn’t pull off the heist as the visitors lost the match by 45 runs.