New Zealand's reception on their tour of Sri Lanka was cold and rainy, as the hosts' seamers left their batting in disarray on a stop-start evening marred by heavy showers that ultimately sealed the game's fate. These showers also saved the visitors from defeat; just two overs after Sri Lanka had kept New Zealand to 74 in an already truncated fixture, the rain again caused an interruption that proved terminal.
In his first match as Sri Lanka's full-time T20 captain, Angelo Mathews hoped for some assistance for his bowlers in wet conditions and he wasn't disappointed. The discipline with which his bowlers bowled in the first half of the innings set up the game for Sri Lanka.
Mathews paved the way with a maiden first up, moving the ball both ways, getting some early swing and beating Rob Nicol's early attempts to clear the in-field. Kulasekara followed suit, the only aberration early on being a smashed four through cover by opener Tom Latham. The batsman perished next ball, swinging, and missing, a straight delivery and despite wickets in hand, the innings stagnated. Only 16 runs came in the Powerplay, the lowest for New Zealand in a T20 international.
