Sri Lanka cruise to seven-wicket win

ICC Champions Trophy - Group B
New Zealand 165 (M Muralitharan 4-23) v Sri Lanka 166-3 (W U Tharanga 56) Sri Lanka beat New Zealand by 7 wkts

Sri Lanka kept their ICC Champions Trophy hopes alive with a comfortable seven wicket victory over a lacklustre New Zealand in Mumbai.

New Zealand were never at the races and only Daniel Vettori's fine battling 46 not out at the end of their innings gave them a half chance of victory when posting a score of 165 on the newly-glued Mumbai wicket.

Although the wicket had caused problems earlier in the tournament it did not seem to cause the Sri Lankans much trouble as they coasted to victory when making 162-3 with another half century from Upal Tharanga.

Sri Lanka knew it was last chance saloon time for them after losing their opening match against Pakistan, but it was the Black Caps who looked out of sorts as they looked to build on their victory over South Africa in their curtain raiser.

Stephen Fleming won the toss and opted to have first crack on the pitch which had been especially glued to make it more even and help the batsmen pile on more runs.

However, the New Zealanders struggled from the very start when skipper Fleming, who was the hero of their first match with his gritty 89, was out for nought with just 14 on the board.

As wickets continued to tumble at an alarming rate, Nathan Astle dug in to grind out 42 runs from 74 deliveries before he became one of Muttiah Muralitharan's four victims.

No other batsman could get into double figures as New Zealand crumbled to 118-9 and only a creditable final wicket stands gave them even a glimmer of hope of victory.

Vettori showed patience and determination to get his way up to 42, with number eleven Jeetan Patel giving able assistance with his ten making the total up to 165, with Muralitharan starring with the ball when taking 4-23 from his ten overs.

Sri Lanka, in contrast, never looked in the slightest bit troubled in their innings as opener Tharanga again impressed as he made 56 to put his side well in control.

Mahela Jayawardene and Sanath Jayasuria also got themselves out but in truth it never looked like New Zealand had any chance of forcing an unlikely victory.

Sri Lanka coasted to a seven-wicket victory with 14 overs to spare to bounce back from their opening defeat to signal their intent to be a real challenger for the title.