Cricket: Fleming leads NZ to seven-wicket win v Sri Lanka

Stephen Fleming hits a six on his way to 77 not out against Sri Lanka. Picture / Fotopress

New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming hit an unbeaten 77 to guide the hosts to a comfortable seven-wicket win over Sri Lanka in the first one-day cricket international at Eden Park in Auckland today.

Fleming's 92-ball knock was his 38th one-day half-century as New Zealand reached their target of 142 in the 33rd over.

It was New Zealand's 19th win from 23 completed one-day internationals in 2004 to confirm their status as the form one-day team of the calendar year.

Earlier, Fleming won the crucial toss and sent Sri Lanka in to bat on a seaming drop-in pitch at Eden Park.

Their innings lasted just 42 overs as allrounder Chris Cairns, in his 198th one-day international, defied a painful ankle injury to take four for 33 off eight overs.

Sri Lanka never recovered from being 18 for three in the sixth over and it was only opener Sanath Jayasuriya's 43 and allrounder Tillakaratne Dilshan's 48 which saved them from total embarrassment.

The second match in the five-match series is in Napier on Wednesday.

Sri Lanka

S Jayantha lbw b Tuffey 0

S Jayasuriya c Marshall b Cairns 43

M Atapattu c McCullum b Tuffey 4

K Sangakkara c McCullum b Mills 1

M Jayawardene c Sinclair b Oram 2

T Dilshan c Fleming b Cairns 48

U Chandana run out 20

C Vaas b Cairns 0

F Maharoof c Fleming b Cairns 2

N Kulasekara not out 4

D Fernando run out 3

Extras (4lb, 1nb, 9w) 14

Total (42 overs) 141

Fall: 1 (Jayantha), 17 (Atapattu), 18 (Mills), 35 (Jayawardene), 70 (Jayasuriya), 114 (Chandana), 116 (Vaas), 120 (Maharoof), 134 (Dilshan), 141 (Fernando).

Bowling: D Tuffey 8-2-17-2 (3w), K Mills 8-3-24-1, J Oram 7-0-23-1 (1w), C Cairns 8-1-33-4 (1nb, 1w), D Vettori 6-0-22-0, (4w), S Styris 5-0-18-0.

New Zealand

S Fleming not out 77

N Astle lbw b Vaas 6

M Sinclair c and b Chandana 31

S Styris run out 12

H Marshall not out 14

Extras (2b, 1lb, 1nb) 4

Total (for 3 wkts, 33 overs) 144

Fall: 7 (Astle), 64 (Sinclair), 101 (Styris).

Bowling: C Vaas 8-1-31-1, N Kulasekara 8-3-13-0, F Maharoof 3-0-31-0, D Fernando 5-0-22-0 (1nb), U Chandana 7-1-29-1, S Jayasuriya 2-0-15-0.

Result: New Zealand won by seven wickets.

Man of the match: Stephen Fleming.

- NZPA