At Christchurch, February 11. New Zealand won by 13 runs. Toss: Sri Lanka.
New Zealand regained some ground at Christchurch, their favourite venue in recent years, showing unusual authority from the start. This time, the experiment of opening with Parore worked: he stiffened the innings with 49, anchoring blitzes from Fleming and Oram, who hit four sixes and three fours in 57 balls. Harris and Vincent added the trimmings in an unbroken seventh-wicket stand of 85 in 10.3 overs. Sri Lanka needed a strong start, but lost three wickets by the seventh over. Atapattu and Jayawardene hit back, with 99 in 17 overs, and Arnold produced another half-century. But Sri Lanka were always competing against the clock. They needed 24 from 16 balls when McMillan removed Arnold, and he claimed two more as they ran out of batsmen. Man of the Match: J. D. P. Oram.

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