Samaraweera earns Sri Lanka opening win

Thilan Samaraweera's maiden century guides Sri Lanka to victory as New Zealand crumble in reply, losing by 97-runs.

A maiden century from Thilan Samaraweera and three wickets in an over from Lasith Malinga helped Sri Lanka steamroller New Zealand by 97 runs in the triangular one-day series for the Compaq Cup in Colombo. Samaraweera cracked a superb 104 and Angelo Mathews chipped in with a knock of 51, the two putting on 127 for the sixth wicket as Sri Lanka recovered from 69 for five at one stage to finish with a respectable 216 for seven. Sri Lanka's new ball bowlers Nuwan Kulasekara and Thilan Thushara then chipped in with three wickets each at the start of their reply, Malinga claiming his share in a single over as the visitors slipped to 41 for six. Malinga then returned to pick up the final wicket as New Zealand were bowled out for 119 in 36.1 overs. Left-arm fast bowler Thushara produced the early breakthrough, sending back Jesse Ryder for a two-ball duck with the second delivery of his first over. Kulasekara followed up with the wickets of Martin Guptill (three) and Ross Taylor (two), although he was lucky to win a leg-before decision against the latter. Brendon McCullum blocked and pushed for singles in uncharacteristic style as he attempted to revive the innings. But with the required run rate climbing steeply, the wicketkeeper batsman was forced into a wild shot and succumbed. McCullum, dropped by Kumar Sangakkara two deliveries earlier, attempted a heave across the line to a full-length delivery from Malinga and missed, the ball crashing into the base of middle stump. At the time McCullum had just 14 from 52 deliveries. Malinga then picked up the wickets off Jacob Oram (four) and debutant Nathan McCullum ? bowled first ball ? in the same over to leave the result a foregone conclusion. Grant Elliott had battled hard en route to a painstaking 41, but his resistance was ended by the left-arm spin of Sanath Jayasuriya, who also snared Daniel Vettori (10). Malinga returned to bowl Ian Butler ? the second highest scorer with 25 ? to finish with four for 28 from 6.1 overs. Earlier, Kiwi paceman Shane Bond and Daryl Tuffey made a fine start with the new ball. Tuffey, playing his first match on this tour, claimed the wicket of Tillakaratne Dilshan (four) in the very first over, while Bond scalped Jayasuriya and Mahela Jayawardene cheaply from the other end to leave the home team reeling at 22 for three.

Dilshan attempted an aggressive start but perished in the first over, dragging Tuffey's last delivery back onto his stumps. Tuffey had flicked the inside edge twice before in that over, but Dilshan had survived. At the other end, Bond produced a little extra bounce and snared Jayawardene, the batsman attempting to steer to third man and instead presenting Ross Taylor with a simple catch at slip. Jayasuriya, struggling to retain his place in the side, was then lured into his trademark cut shot and was caught at third man. Ian Butler, bowling first change, then removed Sangakkara (18) ? caught at deep square leg as he miscued a clip through midwicket ? while Vettori sent back Thilina Kandamby (15) as Sri Lanka slid further into trouble at 69 for five.

Samaraweera, however, took charge and in the company of Mathews resurrected the innings with a superbly-paced knock. Samaraweera started cautiously on a pitch which had kept slow and low, but exerted authority as his innings progressed. He reached his 50 with a single off Nathan McCullum and accelerated nicely through the batting power play, slamming Butler for three boundaries in one over. Mathews kept step with Samaraweera, reaching his second one-day half-century with a single off Bond, but fell two deliveries later. A rare misfield which yielded three helped Samaraweera amass a century, but his innings too ended when he was bowled by Butler.

Bond finished top of the pile among the bowlers with figures of three for 43. * PA Sport