New Zealand are under way at the Cricket World Cup, convincingly beating Sri Lanka by 98 runs at Hagley Oval. Having been sent in, New Zealand piled on 331 for six before dismissing Sri Lanka for 233. The batting effort was impressive, with an opening stand of 111 between captain Brendon McCullum and Martin Guptill, who made 65 and 49 respectively. Kane Williamson, although scratchy early on, capitalised on being dropped twice to make 57, his 13th time past 50 in his last 17 ODI innings. Grant Elliott and Corey Anderson picked the tempo up after Williamson and Ross Taylor were out in consecutive balls. Anderson and Luke Ronchi were then largely responsible for 102 runs being flayed off the last 10 overs. Anderso flogged 75 off 46 balls, being out off the last ball of the innings; Ronchi was left on 29 off 19 balls. The threat expected from seamer Lasith Malinga never materialized as he was hit for 84 in his 10 overs while Nuwan Kulasekara's eight overs cost 78. Sri Lanka made an encouraging start, with Lahiru Thirimanne stroking a fine 65. However the loss of three wickets for five in 12 balls - including the crucial one of Mahela Jayawardene for a duck - undermined the Sri Lankans.Kumar Sangakkara looked likely in getting to 39 in 37 balls, before missing a Trent Boult full toss to be lbw. From there the task was beyond captain Angelo Mathews, who made 46, but with little support. Boult, Dan Vettori, with an impressive two for 34 off 10 overs, Adam Milne, Tim Southee and Corey Anderson all took two wickets as New Zealand kicked off their campaign in style. They next meet Scotland in Dunedin on Tuesday while the Sri Lankans play Afghanistan, also in Dunedin, on February 22.
