Martin Guptill continued his blistering form with a 10th One-Day International century which earned New Zealand a 3-1 series win over Sri Lanka as the hosts registered a 36-run victory in the fifth and final match at Mount Maunganui.
Guptill, who blasted 93 not out off just 30 balls in the third encounter last week, was at it again, compiling 102 off a more modest 109 deliveries to help lay the foundations of the win.
Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor both scored 61 to help the hosts to 294 for five from their 50 overs.
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Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews struck a superb 95 in response, but the tourists were hamstrung by the loss of early wickets and they were bowled out for 258 in the 48th over.
Matt Henry was the pick of the bowlers for the Black Caps with five for 40 off his 10 overs, his second five-wicket haul in limited overs cricket.
After being asked to bat first, Guptill will have been keen to recreate the mayhem of Christchurch, but New Zealand were hampered by the dismissal of Tom Latham for a duck with the score on 12.
The in-form opener and Williamson did a fine repair job, though, embarking on a 122-run partnership, which saw both men pass 50, Guptill with a swept four in the 17th over and Williamson raising his bat five overs later.
The stand ended with the score 125 when the number three was caught down the leg side off the bowling of Tillakaratne Dilshan. He made 61 off 72 balls and struck seven fours.
That brought Taylor to the crease and he combined with Guptill to lay the foundations of a score well in excess of 300.
Guptill cleared the ropes twice on his way to three figures, which he brought up with a streaky four off 107 balls. He departed two balls later, though, but did so with the score on 206 for three with 11.5 overs left.
Man of the match Matt Henry (5-40) sums up today’s 36 run victory in ODI game 5 to help win series 3-1 #NZvSL ^WN pic.twitter.com/wNLIpm2Khd
— BLACKCAPS (@BLACKCAPS) January 5, 2016
Taylor was able to hit a few more hefty blows but when he was dismissed for 61 off 67 balls in the 47th over, New Zealand’s innings had lost momentum thanks to some impressive death bowling from Nuwan Kulasekara (three for 53) and Nuwan Pradeep (one for 69).
But Mitchell Santner hit two sixes off the final three balls to take New Zealand up to 294 for five.
And that looked an unassailable target for Sri Lanka as they slipped to 33 for three off 9.1 overs. Dilshan fell to Trent Boult for five while Henry picked up the wickets of Danushka Gunathilaka and Lahiru Thirimanne for 15 and two respectively.
Skipper Mathews and Dinesh Chandimal tried to resurrect the innings with a stand of 93 off 20 overs, but when the latter skied a catch off Boult for a 65-ball 50 there looked no way back.
A lusty 39, off just 22 balls, from Milinda Siriwardana, including three fours and two sixes, in addition to the impressive Mathews threatened to take the tourists close to the target.
However, wickets fell regularly and when the skipper became Henry’s fourth victim five runs short of his century the game was over and the hosts saw it out with the New Zealand bowler able to claim a five-wicket haul.
