Having been an anti-climax for the sport so far, the New Zealand-Sri Lanka series was finally witness a result on Sunday as Sri Lanka took the game in the rain-curtailed encounter.
The two sides meet again in Pallekele on Tuesday with Sri Lanka aiming to take an unbeatable lead in the series while New Zealand continue their drive for an end to their woes.
The second ODI ended with Sri Lanka winning by 14 runs through the Duckworth/Lewis method. Rains have lashed the tour badly and the matches had to be moved from Colombo to Pallekele.
Though sun was out on the days preceding the match, a rain interruption on Sunday meant yet another early finish, though Sri Lanka were lucky to be ahead of the cut-off and 20 overs had been bowled.
New Zealand will feel hard done by somewhat at the result, for they had posted a highly competitive 250 in difficult conditions, for a change. But captain Ross Taylor was not looking to make any excuses and admitted the shortcomings his team had in the field.
The team is also troubled by fitness concerns over its players as several of them are down with injuries. Taylor and Andrew Ellis both were suffering from gastroenteritis and were undergoing treatment at a local hospital.
Taylor is expected to be fit in time for the match while Ellis’ participation is rather uncertain. Brendon McCullum will miss out once again after complaining of a sore back.
Sri Lanka too have been frustrated by the weather but they will heave a sigh of relief at winning the match. Mahela Jayawardene conceded it was a good toss to lose and could be a hint towards fielding first.
Jayawardene himself top scored in the match but would also like to see some of his young guns step up and take the responsibility as Sri Lanka look to build a team for the future.
The match will start at 2.30pm local time.