It was the 1680th ODI in cricket history. It was New Zealand's 366th and Sri Lanka's 343rd match. It was the 41st match between these two sides. The record now reads: Sri Lanka 14, New Zealand 24, tied one and abandoned 2. It was New Zealand's 85th and Sri Lanka's 90th floodlit match. It was the tenth floodlit match between these two sides. The record now reads: Sri Lanka 6, New Zealand 2 and abandoned 2. Umpires BF Bowden and AL Hill officiated in their 16th and fifth match respectively. Kumara Dharmasena played his 100th match. He became the 12th Sri Lankan and 111th player overall to do so. He also achieved the rare honour of becoming only the second player in one-day internationals to complete the century of matches without ever been dismissed for a duck. He now has an aggregate of 890 runs from 60 innings. The only other player with 100 plus matches and without a duck is Kepler Wessels who aggregated 3367 runs in 109 matches for Australia and South Africa. The 16 wides conceded by New Zealand bowlers equalled New Zealand's record in a match against Sri Lanka. New Zealand bowlers had sent down as many wides at Wellington on 27-03-1997.70 2988 Greenidge CG(WI) Pak,Birmingham,75 Eng,Bridgetown,85-86
68 1518 McMillan CD(NZ) SL,Hyderabad,96-97 Zim,Auckland,2000-01
67 1689 Cairns CL(NZ) Eng,Wellington,90-91 Aus,Adelaide,97-98
53 1056 Ijaz Ahmed(Pak) WI,Sialkot,86-87 Aus,Mumbai,89-90
51 1498 Wood GM(Aus) WI,St.John's,77-78 Ind,Chelmsford,83
48 1451 Fairbrother NH(Eng) Ind,Sharjah,86-87 SA,East London,95-96
46 1602 Bevan MG(Aus) NZ,Sharjah,93-94 SA,Durban,96-97
46 1416 Kambli VG(Ind) WI,Sharjah,91-92 WI,Calcutta,94-95
Note: Wessels and Dharmasena never got out for a duck, hence they are not included in this list.
Muralitharan has now taken 22 wickets in 13 matches against New Zealandmost for Sri Lanka. The previous record was on the name of Arjuna Ranatunga who had taken 19 wickets from 35 matches against New Zealand. Muralitharan became the third Sri Lankan to bag five wickets in a match against New Zealand after Asantha DeMel (5-32 at Derby on 18-06-1983) and Uvais Karnain (5-26 at Moratuwa on 31-03-1984). Muralitharan's figures was obviously the best by a Sri Lankan against New Zealand in New Zealand bettering Chaminda Vaas' 4 for 26 at Wellington on 27-03-1997. Muralitharan now holds the record of returning the best figures in a day-night match against New Zealand alongwith Australia's Len Pascoe who took his five wicket haul at Sydney on 25-11-1980. Muralitharan's figures was also the best by a spinner against New Zealand in all matches obliterating Indian Anil Kumble's 5 for 33 at Wellington on 30-03-1994. Muralitharan has now taken five wicket hauls on five occasions. Only Waqar Younis (10) and Saqlain Mushtaq (6) have taken five wickets in a match on more occasions than Muralitharan, while Wasim Akram and Richard Hadlee also had five such hauls in a career. It was also his third five wicket haul in floodlit matches which eqauls West Indian paceman Curtly Ambrose's tally. Now only South Africa's Lance Klusener (4) is ahead of Muralitharan. Eric Upashantha (4-37) recorded his best figures in a match. His previous best was 2 for 24 against West Indies at Sharjah on 20-10-1995. New Zealand's total (152) was its second lowest in all matches against Sri Lanka after the 116 runs that it made at Moratuwa on 31-03-1984. New Zealand's previous lowest against Sri Lanka in New Zealand was 199 at Auckland on 01-04-1995. Sri Lanka was registering only its third win on New Zealand soil in 13 attempts. The other two wins had come at Auckland on 01-04-1995 and at Christchurch on 25-03-1997. New Zealand has now lost eight matches out of the last nine. Muralitharan won his fifth Man of the Match award.