New Zealand win is too little, too late

Mathew Sinclair batted through the innings with a solid 118 and pacer Kyle Mills took three quick wickets as New Zealand beat Sri Lanka by 79 runs in the last round-robin match of the Sharjah triangular series on Tuesday.

But New Zealand's return to winning ways came too late as their first victory in the three-nation tournament was not enough to beat Sri Lanka on the net run rate.

They needed to bowl out Sri Lanka, who also ended with one win in four matches, inside 86 runs to stand any chance of qualifying for Friday's final against Pakistan, who won all their four league matches.

New Zealand, boosted by Siclair's unbeaten century -- his second in 13 matches -- and his 141-run stand for the second wicket with Matthew Bell (66 off 97 balls with six fours), posted a challenging 248 for six after being put in.

The Kiwis then restricted a surprisingly subdued Sri Lanka for 169 for eight with Mills providing the early breakthrough with a spell of three for 21 in eight overs.

Mills started the slide in the team's sixth over, clean bowling a tentative Romesh Kaluwithara for a duck. Lifted by the early success, Mills worked up lively pace off the wicket to remove Marvan Atapattu (five) and skipper Sanath Jayasuriya (25 off 44 balls).

Atapattu, however, reached a personal milestone during his short-stint at the wicket, completing 4,000 runs in 125 matches.

REAL RESISTANCE
Only Mahela Jayawardene offered real resistance to a charged New Zealand attack, scoring 41 off 55 balls before falling to Grant Bradburn.

The tail wagged to some effect but from 87-7 it was always going to be New Zealand's game.

New Zealand had made a poor start, losing Chris Nevin to the very first ball of the innings when the opener edged a catch to wicketkeeper Romes Kaluwitharana off Chaminda Vaas.

But Sinclair and Bell batted with authority and determination to suffocate Sri Lankan hopes.

New Zealand may not have made the final, but Sinclair did make his presence felt with a tally of 304 runs in the four matches for an average of 102.

Mail Cricket Editor