New Zealand came up with a ruthless display in the 2nd ODI at Christchurch against Sri Lanka, romping home with 10 wickets and 41.4 overs in hand, the sixth quickest chase in ODI history, to take a significant upper hand in the 5-match ODI series being played.
The Kiwis are without their primary pace bowlers Tim Southee and Trent Boult, but their replacements stepped up to do the job on Monday, to set the stage up for the Martin Guptill show that was to follow.
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Sri Lanka opted to bat after winning the toss, but none of their batsmen could get going. The highest scorer from the visitor’s side was No. 8 Nuwan Kulasekara, who scored 19, a fact summing up the woeful state of the Lankans on the day.
Matt Henry claimed 4 wickets and Mitchell McClenaghan claimed 3 as the batting order capitulated for 117, bowled out in 27.4 overs.
New Zealand opened their innings with Martin Guptill and Tom Latham, with Brendon McCullum indisposed to come out with a back stress. What followed was a mad spectacle, as Guptill went on a carnage against the Lanka bowlers, bringing up the target before even the scheduled break in the match.
The ODI match lasted 36 overs, with Guptill’s 93 making up the bulk of the runs scored on the day. He narrowly missed the record of scoring the fastest 50, bringing up the milestone in 17 balls, one more ball than AB de Villiers had taken in January 2015.
Guptill's 17-ball effort is the fastest for a New Zealand batsman in ODIs. Brendon McCullum had held the earlier record of 18 balls which he achieved in the 2015 World Cup clash against England in February 2015.
New Zealand won the match with 250 balls to spare. This is the seventh-biggest margin of victory in ODIs with regards to balls to spare. New Zealand's best win with respect to balls to spare in an ODI was against Bangladesh in December 2007 when they chased the target down with 264 balls remaining.
This loss was Sri Lanka's heaviest defeat with respect to balls to spare in an ODI. This was also their fourth 10-wicket loss in ODIs and their first against New Zealand.
This is the third time that New Zealand have won an ODI with 250 or more balls remaining.
Guptill, who scripted and broke several records in the course of his 93*, has played another innings that shows modern-day batting is stretching the imagination, just missing out on a century because Sri Lanka had not managed to score enough.
Guptill's strike rate of 310 is the second-highest for a 50-plus score in ODIs.
As proof of how strange a match the 2nd ODI was, Martin Guptill reached 93* in 30 balls. It took Sri Lanka 22 overs and 9 batsmen to reach 93.
Brief Scores – SL 117 all out (Kulasekara 19, Mathews 17; Henry 4/33, McClenaghan 3/32) beaten by NZ 118 no loss (Guptill 93*, Latham 17*)
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