Mahela Jayawardene hit a quickfire 58 and pace bowler Chaminda Vaas grabbed three quick wickets as Sri Lanka reached the final of a triangular tournament with a 106-run victory over New Zealand on Tuesday.
The Sri Lankans made 221 for six from their 36 overs in the rain-affected match, New Zealand struggling to 115 for nine in reply.
Vaas ran through the top-order, removing opener Matthew Sinclair and pinch hitter Jacob Oram in his second over. He added that the scalp of captain Stephen Fleming to reduce New Zealand to 16 for three. The touring side slumped into further trouble at 18 for five in eight overs.
Earlier, Sri Lanka's frontline bastmen had hammered New Zealand's bowlers to all corners of the Sinhalese sports club ground after Fleming won the toss and elected to field.
The match was cut back to 36 overs a side after being delayed almost three hours due to rain.
Sri Lanka now have eight points from five matches, New Zealand four from five and India two from four games.
Bureau Report