Sri Lanka A 140 all out (Ish Sodhi 4-10, Doug Bracewell 3-19) lost to New Zealand A 142-3 (Tom Latham 64, Hamish Rutherford 38) by seven wickets.
New Zealand A are within sight of a Tri Series win after a comprehensive victory by seven wickets over Sri Lanka A in Bristol. Ish Sodhi's four for 10 reduced Sri Lanka A to a below par 140, and Tom Latham with 64 and Hamish Rutherford with 38 helped steer their side to the win.
Sri Lanka A made a solid start but after Doug Bracewell made the breakthrough with Dhanushka Gunathilleke's wicket, the NZA bowers started to make inroads, with Hamish Bennett taking care of the other opener, Mahela Udawatte, the next over. From 84-2 the Sri Lankan batsmen were unable to offer much resistance against the NZA attack - Bracewell finished with 3-19, while Sodhi was devastating through the lower and middle order, recording 4-10.
In reply Latham and Rutherford set their team's chase up with an 85-run opening stand. Rutherford went for 38 just inside 10 overs, but the century maker from the Lions match Dean Brownlie was able to score as freely as the openers. Latham was caught by Seekkuge Prasanna from Dushmantha Chameera for 64 from 56, but by that stage his team were all but home.
New Zealand A opening batsman Latham said "I thought it was an all-round team performance, we backed up really well from the last match. Everyone stepped up and Ish was fantastic, to get four for 10 in just six overs was a great set of figures in one day cricket.
"It was a niggly total to chase, you don't want to lose quick ones and put pressure on the lower order. It was nice to bat with Hamish and score pretty freely after the first 10 overs to set the tone for the innings.
"If we can win versus England we'll win the Tri Series, which would be a great reward. We'll be watching Lions v Sri Lanka A pretty closely and the boys will be very focused on our next match and wrapping up the series," said Latham.
New Zealand A's next match is against England Lions at New Road, Worcester on Tuesday night NZ time.
