New Zealand skipper Daniel Vettori put his team's 22-run victory in the second Twenty20 international against Sri Lanka in Colombo down to the solid opening partnership between Jesse Ryder and Brendon McCullum.

Ryder smashed 52 off just 37 deliveries and McCullum made 49 off 34, the two getting New Zealand off to a flying start with an 84-run first-wicket stand.

Martin Guptill chipped in with a useful 32 at the end as the Black Caps finished with a formidable 170 for four after Vettori had won a good toss.

Shane Bond then dismissed Tillakaratne Dilshan cheaply in his first over with the new ball, while Kyle Mills claimed two wickets in successive overs as Sri Lanka slipped to 11 for three.

Captain Kumar Sangakkara and former captain Mahela Jayawardene then resurrected the innings with a 67-run stand for the fourth wicket.

Jayawardene made 41, while Sangakkara persevered bravely on his way to 69, but Sri Lanka only managed 148 for eight.

Vettori was pleased with the all-round display from his team.

"It's been a nice turnaround from the Test matches," Vettori said. "It started from the Ryder-McCullum partnership and in a game where it's so important for the top three - especially the openers - to get off to a good start, you can't ask more from those two."

Bond, who received a mauling at the hands of Dilshan in the previous game, claimed three for 18 from four overs, while off-spinner Nathan McCullum picked up crucial wickets to help his side to a clean sweep in the two-match series.

"We got off to a good start with the ball as well with Shane and Kyle putting Sri Lanka under pressure," Vettori said.

"It's always tough to recover from the loss of three big wickets earlier on, but they put us back a bit with the partnerships between Sangakkara and Jayawardene.

"Fortunately we bounced back and that was due to some great bowling by Nathan McCullum."

New Zealand's bowlers were backed up by a good performance in the field and Vettori was impressed with the effort.

He added: "You have to be at the top of your game otherwise you would be too far behind.

"And these are not the easiest of conditions, but the majority of the stuff we have done in the last two games has been relatively impressive."

Sangakkara admitted his team had been second best.

"We should not have given them as many runs as we did and it wasn't the greatest of starts for us," Sangakkara said.

"We tried everything and we still came up short. They outplayed us.

"They got off to a great start, they had partnerships throughout and they put our best bowlers under pressure.

"Once that happens and when you have 170 on the board you are always backing yourself to win.

"It is a gettable target, but losing those early wickets put us on the backfoot."

Sangakkara, however, refused to blame his bowlers for the defeat, but instead indicated his batsmen need to improve.

"Our bowling unit has been very good over the last couple of years," he said.

"They usually have one off day and I guess they earn that by the performances they put in.

"It's the batting which has got to be more consistent."