CARDIFF, June 1: New Zealand openers Martin Guptill and Colin Munro comfortably steered their side to an impressive 10-wicket victory over Sri Lanka in their World Cup opener at the Sophia Gardens here on Saturday.
Guptill and Munro remained unbeaten on 73 and 58, respectively, as the Kiwis raced past the 137-run target set by Sri Lanka in just 16.1 overs.
New Zealand got off to a decent start as Guptill and Munro added 26 runs in the first five overs. The two openers didn�t let the Lankan bowlers make any inroads as they kept the scorers busy, adding 77 runs in the first 10 overs. Both Guptill and Munro notched up their respective half-centuries in the 14th over before helping New Zealand script a comfortable win.
Earlier, the grass cover on the pitch was incentive enough for New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson to put Sri Lanka in after winning the toss. And his bowlers didn�t disappoint as they bundled out the Lankans for just 136 in 29.2 overs with Matt Henry (3/29) and Lockie Ferguson (3/22) inflicting the maximum damage.
SCORECARD
Sri Lanka: Lahiru Thirimanne lbw b Henry 4, Dimuth Karunaratne not out 52, Kusal Perera c De Grandhomme b Henry 29, Kusal Mendis c Guptill b Henry 0, Dhananjaya de Silva lbw b Ferguson 4, Angelo Mathews c Latham b De Grandhomme 0 Jeevan Mendis c Neesham b Ferguson 1, Thisara Perera c Boult b Santner 27, Isuru Udana c Henry b Neesham 0, Suranga Lakmal c Santner b Boult 7, Lasith Malinga b Ferguson 1; Extras (b1, nb2, w8) 11. Total (all out, 29.2 overs) 136. Fall of wickets: 1-4, 2-46, 3-46, 4-53, 5-59, 6-60, 7-112, 8-114, 9-130, 10-136. Bowling: Henry 7-0-29-3, Boult 9-0-44-1, Ferguson 6.2-0-22-3, De Grandhomme 2-0-14-1, Neesham 3-0-21-1, Santner 2-0-5-1.
New Zealand: Martin Guptill 73 not out, Colin Munro 58 not out; Extras (nb1, w2, lb 3) 6. Total (0 wkts, 16.1 overs) 137. Bowling: Malinga 5-0-46-0, Lakmal 4-0-28-0, Udana 3-0-24-0, Perara 3-0-25-0, Mendis 1.1-0-11-0. � AFP
