Taylor, Nicholls centuries seal 3-0 sweep
New Zealand piled on 364, before a familiar middle-order collapse left Thisara Perera waging a lone battle as Sri Lanka sank to a 115-run defeat
New Zealand piled on 364, before a familiar middle-order collapse left Thisara Perera waging a lone battle as Sri Lanka sank to a 115-run defeat
Scorer: @Thilak_Rama | Commentator: @saurabh_42
6.37pm That's all we have for you from this ODI series. On behalf of Akshay and Thilak, this is Saurabh signing off.
6.30pm And, Ross Taylor is the Man of the Match: "You get nervous at the start of every innings but it helps having played 100 games. I'm just trying to keep things simple and not think too much when I go out there. We've done the donkey work through the middle and put the icing on the cake at the end. Henry Nicholls batted outstandingly well. He made my job a lot easier, was busy and set the tone from ball one. I'm sure it'll be one of many hundreds to come for him."
Lasith Malinga: "After the first 30-35 overs, the last 15 overs are not going well. We have time to work that out before the World Cup. We still need to improve our middle order batting. I feel that before the next tournament, they will adjust to the conditions and learn. I think Thisara and Kusal did a very good job. I'm a bit disappointed with the bowling, we have to improve in the end 15 overs. This is the second time I'm leading the team and I've really enjoyed it because I've played a lot of cricket with them. I have to enjoy with t hem and pass on my knowledge to them."
Kane Williamson: "The improvement seen throughout the series (is what I enjoyed most). Today's performance was a step up from the first two matches from a bowling perspective. We have been under pressure at various points and responded well. It's been a testing series. Fantastic hundred from Rossco and Henry Nicholls came in and finished it brilliantly. It's been very good to see guys come out and execute their roles. We need to keep doing that again, we have another series coming up. (World Cup) hopefully we're getting answers to a few things. As a group I think you just want to keep improving."
6.22pm The first two matches were close thanks to Sri Lanka finding a batsman who stood up and took New Zealand on. That perhaps masked their overall weakness. When that didn't happen today, save for Thisara again today though they were chasing a much bigger total, they unravelled quickly. This is as comprehensive as a win gets, and the 3-0 scoreline doesn't flatter New Zealand either. They were clearly the better team. Hang around and we'll have the presentations for you.
N Pradeep b Sodhi 0 (3b 0x4 0x6) SR: 0.00
slip in place.
SL Malinga st †Seifert b Sodhi 0 (1b 0x4 0x6) SR: 0.00
Samrat Ahuja: "Really impressed by Lockie! He is slowly but surely becoming a decent limited overs bowler with his around the wicket short balls barrage to right handed batsmen, targeting their ribs! " - with his pace, if he gets his radar right, he'll be a threat against any opposition, on any surface
MD Gunathilaka b Ferguson 31 (52b 1x4 0x6) SR: 59.61
New Zealand piled on 364, before a familiar middle-order collapse left Thisara Perera waging a lone battle as Sri Lanka sank to a 115-run defeat
Where in T20, Munro explodes virtually the moment he takes guard at the crease, he feels he's got to adapt a little better in ODIs
Sri Lanka's weaknesses have been their attack's toothlessness through the middle overs and a frail middle order. Can they fix those issues?