Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara praised Thilan Samaraweera for his magnificent batting effort following their 97-run victory over New Zealand in the opening match of the Compaq Cup in Colombo.

Samaraweera hit 104 - his maiden one-day century - and helped his team recover from early setbacks.

Sri Lanka were left reeling at 69 for five at one stage, but Samaraweera put on 127 for the sixth wicket with Angelo Mathews (51) to help the home side reach a challenging 216 for seven.

Lasith Malinga then claimed four wickets, including three in one over, as New Zealand were bowled out for 119 inside 37 overs.

"Our approach was found wanting in the first six-seven overs especially when you want to play tough, good cricket at this level," Sangakkara said.

"When you lose three wickets in the first seven overs you tend to be chasing the game, but what a magnificent recovery from Samaraweera.

"He has clawed his way back into the one-day team with some amazing performances in the last two years and he has showed us how good he is and what a good, solid batsman can do when the chips are down."

Samaraweera was dropped from the one-day team in 2005, but has forced his way back following strong performances with the bat in the Test arena.

He was picked to the one-day team for the home series against Pakistan last month for the first time since November 2005 and has also secured a berth for the Champions Trophy in South Africa starting later this month.

Sangakkara believes Samaraweera's maiden century set the stage for their victory.

"It was a strange wicket even by the usual standards here," Sangakkara said.

"Usually it is quite good to bat on first and then it deteriorates, but today it was difficult to score runs even from the start.

"But I thought Angelo Mathews and Samaraweera showed a huge amount of character and then the fast bowlers and the spinners did everything right in the field."

Samaraweera, who won the man of the match, said he was pleased with his effort.

"It's a good feeling and I have to thank the team management and all the team members because they believed in me and my ability," he said.

"The score was 22 for three when I walked to the crease and my plan at the start was to bat as long as possible.

"Although two wickets went down after I came to the crease, Mathews took the pressure off me.

"Our target was to get about 200 because we felt it was a good score and not easy to chase on this track under lights.

"I think we took the powerplay at the right time and that helped us achieve that target."

New Zealand skipper Daniel Vettori believed the Samaraweera-Mathews partnership was the difference between the sides.

"We had a good start with the ball and put them under some pressure," Vettori said.

"But then, Samaraweera and Mathews played exceptionally well.

"Probably the real difference between the two sides is that they applied themselves very well on a difficult wicket.

"And the Sri Lankan bowlers were too good for us today."

Asked if there was one thing he would have changed, Vettori said: "We would have won the toss."