Thisara’s 140 in vain as New Zealand snatch ODI series

A rollicking maiden century by Sri Lanka’s Thisara Perera was ultimately in vain as New Zealand wrapped up the one-day series with a 21-run victory in the second ODI at Mount Maunganui.

Thisara Perera on his performance:Â
Very proud of myself, because it’s my first century. I’ve been batting at No. 8 or 9, so thanks for the batting coaches for trusting me at No.7.

With the last few batsmen, it’s really hard to hit in this ground because of the wind, so I had to take the responsibility. I told Nuwan and Sandakan to at least play 6 balls, I’ll take it from the other end.

I have to thank Chandika Hathurusingha and Thilan Samaraweera, they kept throwing, throwing, throwing [balls]. This is for these two.

I have hit five sixes before in my career. It’s hard to get six sixes in a row. I was trying to get victory for my country, so I couldn’t think of five sixes or four sixes.

New ZealandÂ

M. Guptill c Dickwella b Malinga 13

C. Munro run out (K.Perera/Sandakan) 87

K. Williamson c Sandakan b Pradeep 1

R. Taylor run out (Sandakan/Dickwella) 90

H. Nicholls c Dickwella b Malinga 32

J. Neesham run out (Pradeep) 64

T. Seifert run out (T.Perera) 22

T. Southee not out 1

Extras: (b 4, lb 2, wd 3) 9Â

Total: (for 7 wickets; 50 overs) 319Â

Fall of wickets: 1-34 (Guptill), 2-39 (Williamson), 3-151 (Munro), 4-208 (Nicholls), 5-262 (Taylor), 6-302 (Neesham), 7-319 (Siefert)

Bowling: Malinga 10-0-45-2, Pradeep 9-0-59-1, Gunathilaka 1-0-10-0, T. Perera 7-0-69-0 (2w), Sandakan 10-0-56-0 (1w), Prasanna 5-0-34-0, Gunaratne 8-0-40-0

Sri LankaÂ

N. Dickwella b Southee 9

D. Gunathilaka c Seifert b Neesham 71

K. Perera c Boult b Henry 4

K. Mendis c Seifert b Sodhi 20

D. Chandimal b Sodhi 3

D. Gunaratne run out (Neesham/Siefert)6

T. Perera c Boult b Henry 140

S. Prasanna b Sodhi 0

L. Malinga b Boult 17

L. Sandakan c Taylor b Neesham 6

N. Pradeep not out 3

Extras: (lb 6, wd 13) 19Â

Total: (all out; 46.2 overs) 298Â

Fall of wickets: 1-28 (Dickwella), 2-63 (K. Perera), 3-112 (Mendis), 4-116 (Gunathilaka), 5-121 (Chandimal), 6-128 (Gunaratne), 7-128 (Prasanna), 8-203 (Malinga), 9-254 (Sandakan), 10-298 (T. Perera)

Bowling: Boult 10-1-61-1 (3w), Southee 8-0-68-1 (4w), Henry 9.2-1-52-2 (2w), Williamson 2-0-8-0,