Although the margin of victory might not suggest it, this was an easy win for Sri Lanka as they started their tri-series campaign by beating New Zealand by three wickets.

In truth New Zealand were never in the game once Upul Tharanga and Kumar Sangakkara had seen off a tricky period from the frontline seamers, but with the desire for a bonus point completely consuming Sri Lanka towards the end a string of wickets made the bottom line reasonably favourable for the touring side.

Having laid the foundation for the victory with an innings of 70 from 109 deliveries, Tharanga fell in the mad dash for a bonus point, which required the hosts to achieve their target of 193 for victory inside 40 overs.

Angelo Mathews, Nuwan Kulasekara and Rangana Herath also lost their wickets as the bonus point sub-plot took control of the encounter to the extent that a game with a foregone conclusion suddenly developed renewed tension.

However once they had collapsed from 162 for three to 180 for seven, the pursuit was abandoned and Thilan Samaraweera (36 not out) and Chamara Kapugedera settled for a cruise to the finish line.

Although slow, Tharanga's innings was impressive given how much the ball was doing under lights. In particular Sangakkara struggled early on, mistiming the ball for the first 20-odd balls of his innings before finally finding his feet to stroke an attractive 48.

Kyle Mills provided the greatest threat up front, removing Tillakaratne Dilshan in his second over, and was the chief instigator of Sri Lanka's late collapse. Mills finished with four for 41, but only really found support from Nathan McCullum (one for 23 in seven overs) and Scott Styris (one for 22 in eight overs) as the slower bowlers put the skids on during the middle section of the innings.

However New Zealand's problem was a lack of runs, with their top order again collapsing. After Martin Guptill was out first ball, Kane Williamson recorded a second duck in as many one-day internationals and Ross Taylor was lbw to Angelo Mathews (three for 36 in 10 overs) for just 16.

Debutant BJ Watling (55) attempted to rebuild the innings as he compiled a 52-run partnership with Styris (24), but once the veteran was caught at slip off the bowling of Rangana Herath New Zealand were 99 for four after 23 overs and had little batting to come.

It was soon left to McCullum to rebuild the innings with the lower order, a task he managed better than expected. McCullum adapted to the conditions well and went about building his innings with singles and twos, and his 64-ball 36 did not contain a single boundary. It did, however, contain one massive six cranked over long-on off the bowling of Ajantha Mendis.

The risk-free strategy almost allowed New Zealand to bat out their overs, but Nuwan Kulasekara denied them that privilege when he had Tim Southee (13) caught at deep square-leg by Dilshan.

Shot of the Day
Undoubtedly BJ Watling's drive back over Rangana Herath's head for four to bring up his half-century on debut. Not only did it show great nerve, but it was the cleanest strike of the day.

Delivery of the Day
The Dambulla groundsman deserves a lot of praise for producing a very good pitch for one-day international cricket, because it genuinely provides a contest between bat and ball throughout the game. Batsmen generally need some time to get used to the pace of it, but if they're patient enough to do so then runs are on offer. With the wicket offering movement, it was another game that served up plenty of cracking deliveries, but the best one to my mind was from Scott Styris. It didn't claim a wicket, but it had Upul Tharanga utterly baffled as he rolled his fingers across the ball and beat the outside edge with an off-cutter.

Defining Moment of the Day
Contrary to what Tuesday's victory suggested, New Zealand's batting line-up does lack experience and class. Today proved just how reliant they are on Ross Taylor in particular, and once he was trapped lbw by Angelo Mathews in the 11th over of the New Zealand innings they were always going to struggle. As it turned out, it was a moment from which they never recovered.