Clinical New Zealand seal series
Brendon McCullum and Jesse Ryder's clinical hitting and Nathan McCullum's teasing offspin were responsible for driving New Zealand to victory and handing Sri Lanka their fourth Twenty20 loss in a row
Brendon McCullum and Jesse Ryder's clinical hitting and Nathan McCullum's teasing offspin were responsible for driving New Zealand to victory and handing Sri Lanka their fourth Twenty20 loss in a row
A professional performance from New Zealand, there were a few hiccups in the first game, today there were the frontrunners from the beginning to the end. Brendon McCullum and Jesse Ryder gave a cracking start, and the batting built on that to set a tall target. Their new-ball bowlers gave the early breakthroughs, and Nathan McCullum's double-strike almost ended Sri Lanka's chances. Sangakkara resisted with an innings packed with innovation but even his 69 wasn't enough to prevent defeat.
Vettori had been pleased with the death bowling on Wednesday, today they were just as good, firing in the yorkers at will. It was well planned bowling effort as well, illustrated by the bowling to Jayasuriya to whom they hardly bowled any length balls. New Zealand's fielding was world-class as well in both games.
Post-match presentation: Sangakkara: "We gave them a few too many runs in the field, and it was not the greatest of starts, apart form that we gave it our all, I have to say they outplayed us. A lot of things to work on going into the one-day series. Our bowling has been very good in the recent past, but they had one off day today. Our batting unit needs to start firing."
The Man of the Match is Jesse Ryder: "Yeah, it was good to hit a few off the middle. I've struggled a bit since I got here, so it was good. Baz got the team off to a good start, and our bowlers backed it up after that." Ryder is also the Man of the Series.
Vettori: "It's been a nice turnaround after the Tests series." He praises the openers for their great start. "Shane Bond and Mills also gave us a superb start with the ball, but Sri Lanka put us under a bit of pressure with that Sangakkara and Jayawardene partnership." He is also happy with Nathan McCullum's performance, the two wickets in McCullum's over put New Zealand in charge of the game again.
The New Zealand team are posing with trophy, deserving victors of the series. That's it from us at Cricinfo, thanks for all the mails and the company, do join us on September 8 for the first match of the Compaq Cup ODI tri-series.
KMDN Kulasekara c Taylor b Bond 2 (10m 4b 0x4 0x6) SR: 50.00
After bossing New Zealand around in the Tests, Sri Lanka have been slightly deflated with a loss in momentum resulting from defeats in both Twenty20 contests over the past three days
Plays of the day for the second Twenty20 between Sri Lanka and New Zealand in Colombo
Brendon McCullum and Jesse Ryder's clinical hitting and Nathan McCullum's teasing offspin were responsible for driving New Zealand to victory and handing Sri Lanka their fourth Twenty20 loss in a row
Jesse Ryder's contributions, after being a phantom through the two Tests, had played a big part in putting the smiles back on New Zealand's faces