Live Cricket Score of New Zealand vs Sri Lanka, 7th ODI at Wellington

Lahiru Thirimanne and Tillakaratne Dilshan took their time as they built a solid opening stand. Kyle Mills bowled a probing line and length and was pretty unlucky not to be amongst wickets. Having seen off the new ball threat, both batsmen opened up as they played some sumptuous drives on both side of the wicket. The visitors reached 42/0 after 10 overs, a nice little platform for the team to build momentum as the innings progressed.

Having ticked all the right boxes so far, a confident New Zealand team will be looking to complete the series on a winning note. With the World Cup on the anvil, the hosts have earned themselves the right to go into the tournament as one of the hot favourites. Brendon McCullum has led the team exceptionally well, the entire batting unite has clicked and the bowling has been disciplined. Add the exuberant fielding, New Zealand look set for bigger honours.

On the other hand, Sri Lanka have looked jaded at times. The batting has been heavily reliant on the seniors while the bowling looks lacklustre. There have been a few dissenting factors in the camp, something that doesn't augur well with a big tournament just a few days away. The visitors will be missing Rangana Herath for this match, the bowler having gone back home to attend to a sick member of the family.

With a solid platform set, Dilshan and Sangakkara started to up the ante. Even the parsimonious Daniel Vettori went for runs with Dilshan taking him apart in his 5th over. Kumar Sangakkara took a liking to the gentle pace of Grant Elliott and suddenly Sri Lanka found themselves very well placed at 128/1 after 24 overs.

Sri Lanka gave young pacer, Dushmanta Chameera, a ODI debut. Seekkuge Prasanna and Shaminda Eranga also found a place in the playing eleven. Skipper Angelo Mathews was ruled out as he recovers from flu. On the other hand, the hosts opted to rest skipper Brendon McCullum. Tom Latham replaced him and will open the batting. They also left out Trent Boult, with Tim Southee returning.

Lahiru Thirimanne and Tillakaratne Dilshan added their third consecutive fifty plus stand for the opening wicket before the former was dismissed by Corey Anderson for 30. He missed an inswinger and was trapped plumb in front of the wicket, he didn't even bother to think about a review as he walked off. The visitors were 71/1 after 15 overs.

Tillakaratne Dilshan's good run of form with the bat continued as he scored his 42nd ODI fifty, his 3rd fifty plus score in this series. The most comfortable Sri Lankan batsman on this tour, he will look to convert his half-century into a big three figure score. Kumar Sangakkara was giving him excellent company as the visitors reached 106/1 after 20 overs.