New Zealand 209 all out (Chapman 76, Hay 49, Theekshana 3-31) vs Sri Lanka(47 overs a side)
Rain stopped play twice and on either side of those stoppages, Sri Lanka's spinners brought the game to a crawl while their fielders stole the show as New Zealand inched their way up to 209 all out in the second ODI in Pallekele. Only a half-century from Mark Chapman and 49 for Mitchell Hay brought about a modicum of respectability for New Zealand, on a slow surface.
Aside from those two innings, just two other batters - Will Young (26) and Glenn Phillips (15) - managed to crack double digits, while extras made up 12. Jeffrey Vandersay and Maheesh Theekshana shared three wickets apiece, while Charith Asalanka deserves a mention for giving away just 29 runs in his eight overs. Asitha Fernando meanwhile worked tirelessly as the solitary frontline seam option and was rewarded with the prize wicket of Chapman and Michael Bracewell.
All the Sri Lankan bowlers however owe a debt of gratitude to their outfielders who, despite dropping some tough chances, held on to even tougher ones. Avishka Fernando was at the forefront of this excellence, completing two nearly identical grabs, diving forward in the deep to scoop the ball centimetres off the ground, to dismiss both Phillips and and Chapman.
And he was not done yet, taking another stellar catch on the run and slide to remove Bracewell. Pathum Nissanka too threw his name in the hat for catch of the match, with a stunning sprint from long-off towards mid-off, culminating in a full-length dive to hold on to a skier from Mitchell Santner.
Sri Lanka's ground fielding too was on point, with the infielders in particular smothering the visiting batters, competing for every run. This was highlighted by an astonishing 157 dot balls being played out across the course of the innings - one that had already been shortened to 47 overs due to rain.
While the surface in Pallekele didn't offer the same turn as that was available in Dambulla, its sluggish nature meant the spinners were difficult to get away nevertheless. New Zealand's best opportunity at quick runs was during the power play but Dunith Wellalage - on for Dilshan Madushanka as Sri Lanka bolstered their spin department - struck in just the second over of the innings, skidding one through Tim Robinson, to peg the visitors back early.
This meant both Young and Henry Nicholls were content to simply wait for poor deliveries - something in limited supply - to score boundaries. As a result, their partnership of 22 took 38 deliveries to muster. And just as the pressure was building, Theekshana fired one outside off at 107kph which Nicholls could only stab at before playing onto the stumps.
That wicket preceded by a couple of minutes the first of the rain stoppages, and upon resumption New Zealand had one of their better passages of play. Both Young and Chapman looked comfortable as they worked the ball around, even if the scoring rate was never beyond five an over. Their partnership of 38 came off 53 deliveries, but was ended abruptly when Young missed one from Vandersay having skipped down the track.
Chapman and Phillips then offered sprouts of another promising stand following the second rain stoppage, putting on 29 from 38. But that too was cut short - this time courtesy the first of Avishka's stunners.
It was her New Zealand had their best period of the game, as Chapman and Hay put in the time to rebuild the innings. Such was the strangle being exerted by the spinners during the early part of this stand, they scored just 13 runs in the first 41 deliveries faced. But by the end of it, the partnership had soared to 75 off 78, as both batters finally felt comfortable taking risks.
Sixty-two runs were scored between the 30th and 36th over, as New Zealand might have been eyeing up a total in the region of 250. However on a spinner's deck, it was Asitha who had the most decisive say, returning for a double wicket strike to see the backs of Chapman and Bracewell.
From that point on, it was a trudge for the visitors as Hay sought to battle it out with the tail. He was the last batter to fall, one short of a maiden ODI fifty.
