At Christchurch, March 26. New Zealand won by 33 runs. Toss: Sri Lanka. International debut: K. J. Silva.

The New Zealanders rediscovered their middle-order batting strength, so noticeably absent in the Tests, on a flat one-day pitch at Lancaster Park. Despite the customary bad start – both openers gone by 28 – Rutherford, with 65 in 75 balls, and Fleming lifted them to 122 by the halfway mark. Then Cairns, much missed during the Test series because of injury, stepped up the counter-attack with a run-a-ball 72 and New Zealand surged to 271 for six.

Beating that looked simple when Jayasuriya and Gurusinha gave Sri Lanka a flying start of 83 in ten overs, but five wickets then fell for 49. Vaughan's military-medium bowling pegged down the second half of the innings and he took four wickets, his best return in one-day internationals.

Man of the Match: K. R. Rutherford.

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