Rain washes out final ODI as Sri Lanka win series 2-0 vs New Zealand

Persistent rain in Pallekele brought to an untimely end the final Oneday International between Sri Lanka and New Zealand with the match officially abandoned after just 21 overs Despite a promising start the weather meant the game would not proceed further and Sri Lanka who had already secured victories in the first two matches claimed the series 20This marks Sri Lankas fifth ODI series win of the year adding another impressive achievement to their 2024 campaignThe game began with anticipation as the fresh pitch at Pallekele was expected to favour the batters offering a contrast to the slower more sluggish surfaces that had characterised the first two encounters of the seriesNew Zealand won the toss and opted to bat first a decision that initially appeared to pay off as they got off to their best start of the series In the first 10 overs New Zealand were ticking along at a rate of just under six runs per over without taking too many risksHowever a significant portion of those runs came from the wayward bowling of Dilshan Madushanka whose two overs conceded 23 runs It was an unfortunate day for the leftarm seamer who had been one of the standout performers during Sri Lankarsquos World Cup campaign the previous yearAlso ReadPandya returns to T20I throne Tilakrsquos 69spot leap shakes up T20I batting listMadushanka who had been one of the most highly regarded seamers in world cricket 12 months ago struggled to maintain consistency with sloppy fielding adding to his woes Of the first five boundaries of the New Zealand innings four had come off Madushankas bowling and he was soon removed from the attackAt the other end Sri Lanka managed to keep things more tightly controlled Seamer Mohamed Shiraz playing just his second ODI and his first of the series bowled a commendable spell He made the breakthrough taking the lone wicket of the innings by removing Tim RobinsonThe wicket was thanks to a fine effort from skipper Charith Asalanka who leapt high at midoff to take a welljudged catch off Robinsons mistimed drive Shiraz with his late swing troubled both Robinson and Will Young finishing with figures of 1 for 23 from five overs His performance was marked by an impressive 20 dot balls out of 30 legal deliveries reflecting his control and accuracyDespite the early struggles New Zealand managed to maintain a steady scoring rate with Young and Henry Nicholls remaining unbeaten on 56 and 46 respectively Their partnership had flourished to 88 runs off 106 balls putting New Zealand in a strong position They had succeeded in cutting off Sri Lankas boundary options relying on a steady rotation of the strikeUnfortunately after just 21 overs rain halted play and it became clear that the game would not resume resulting in the abandonment of the final ODI This meant that both teams missed an opportunity to test their bench strength ahead of future challengesNew Zealand had given debuts to seamer Zakary Foulkes who had impressed during the T20I series and Adam Milne who also made his first appearance on the tour They replaced Nathan Smith and Jacob Duffy in the squad On the Sri Lankan side coach Chris Silverwood made five changes to the lineupKey players Pathum Nissanka Kusal Mendis Kamindu Mendis Dunith Wellalage and Asitha Fernando were all left out of the playing XI In their place Sri Lanka brought in Nishan Madushka Nuwanidu Fernando Madushanka and Shiraz along with a debut for seambowling allrounder Chamindu Wickramasinghe However Wickramasinghe bowled just two overs giving away 14 runs in the processWith no further play possible Sri Lankas 20 series win confirmed Sri Lankarsquos fifth series win of the yearThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever