International cricket tyros Peter Fulton and Jamie How carried New Zealand to a convincing sevenwicket win over Sri Lanka with 13 overs to spare in the opening one-day fixture of the revived series here Saturday.
Fulton, in only his second outing in New Zealand colours, was not out 70 at the end while How on debut made 58 as the home side easily chased down their target of 164 runs in just 37.2 overs.
It was not a difficult target on a pitch which held no dangers, but the way Fulton and How put on 95 for the third wicket showed an authority which not even the experience of Chaminda Vaas and Muttiah Muralitharan could ruffle.
Opener How saw his first two partners -- senior batsmen Lou Vincent and Nathan Astle -- back in the pavillion by the 11th over and at two for 41, Sri Lanka could smell an
outside chance of success.
But Fulton had other ideas. After taking time to read the rhythm of Muralitharan, he opened up with a majestic array of shots around the ground, scoring 70 off 79 balls including seven fours and a towering six.
As his confidence grew, so did the 24-year-old How's, and they put New Zealand in an unbeatable position before How paid the price for a loose shot to Sanath Jayasuriya and was clean bowled, leaving Hamish Marshall to partner Fulton through the final 30 runs.
New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori said his bowlers did well to contain Sri Lanka but there was no doubt who won the game.
"When two new guys come into the team you want them to succeed, but when the two new guys go and win the game for you that's extremely pleasing and that's what they did," he said.
Earlier, the New Zealand pace attack had throttled the Sri Lankan batsmen, leaving the tourists all
out for 164 in the 48th over. Captain Marvan Atapattu said there were no excuses for the disappointing effort.
"Once you got in it was a beautiful wicket to bat on," he said, pointing the finger directly at his underperforming batsmen.
"The ones who are getting runs are not getting enough and those who aren't getting runs are not getting anything at all."
After being put in to bat by Vettori, the Sri Lankans were in despair at 41 for four. Although Atapattu and Tillakaratne Dilshan staged a minor recovery for the fifth wicket, the innings never looked stable.
It was an all too familiar scene for Sri Lanka after their recent failure in India, while the New Zealand attack looked far more commanding than it did earlier in the month against Australia.
With the return of an injury-free Shane Bond injecting new life into the line-up, the New Zealand bowlers mixed short balls with the occasional full-length delivery to deny the Sri Lankans a chance to settle.
Jayasuriya and Upul Tharanga cautiously negotiated the first eight overs before Jayasuriya, making his comeback after being dropped for the India tour, slashed at a full-length delivery from Kyle Mills and was caught at point by Lou Vincent for 12.
With his dismissal the wickets began to tumble.
Kumar Sangakkara edged Bond to Peter Fulton at slip and was gone without scoring, Mahela Jayawardene scored one before nicking Jacob Oram to wicketkeeper Brendon McCullum, and Tharanga went in identical fashion for 17 two overs later.
Atapattu and Dilshan put on 64 for the fifth wicket before Atapattu gave Mills his second wicket and was out for 35..
SCoREBoARD
Scoreboard for the first one-day international between New Zealand and Sri Lanka on Saturday:
SRI LANKA
Tharanga c McCullum b Oram 17
Jayasuriya c Vincent b Mills 12
Sangakkara c Fulton b Bond 0
Jayawardene c McCullum b Oram 1
Atapattu c How b Mills 35
Dilshan c Vincent b Bond 42
Arnold b Mills 26
Vaas c Vettori b Oram 1
Maharoof b Cairns 18
Malinga not out 1
Muralitharan c Vettori b Bond 0
Extras: (lb-6, w-4, nb-1) 11
Total: (All out in 47.2 overs) 164
Fall of wickets: 1-23, 2-25, 3-34, 4-41, 5105, 6-132, 7-139, 8-150, 162-9
Super-sub: Maharoof for Fernando
Bowler o M R W
Mills 10 2 31 3
Bond 8.2 1 29 3
Oram 10 0 31 3
Cairns 8 0 42 1
Vettori 10 1 22 0
Styris 1 0 3 0
NEW ZEALAND
Vincent c Sangakkara b Vaas 15
How b Jayasuriya 58
Astle lbw Muralitharan 2
Fulton not out 70
Marshall not out 16
Extras: (lb-1, w-4) 5
Total: (For 3 wkts in 37.2 overs) 166
Fall ofwickets: 1-32, 2-41, 3-136
Did not bat: Styris, Oram, Cairns, McCullum, Mills, Vettori
Super-sub: Astle for Bond
Bowler o M R W
Vaas 9 2 38 1
Malinga 6 0 44 0
Muralitharan 10 1 29 1
Jayasuriya 8.2 2 36 1
Maharoof 4 0 18 0
Result: New Zealand won by seven wickets.
Man-of-the-match: peter Fulton.
Toss: New Zealand.