Mahela Jayawardene effortlessly stroked his 18th one-day international century to anchor Sri Lanka’s 218 for nine against New Zealand in the first of seven one-day matches on Sunday.
Jayawardene was dismissed for 104, which included 12 boundaries and a six, as Sri Lanka failed to capitalise on the quick outfield at Hagley Oval in Christchurch.
Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews had won the toss and chosen to bat, though his side struggled against some tight bowling from Trent Boult and Adam Milne, who dismissed both Dimuth Karunaratne (five) and Kumar Sangakkara (four) to reduce the visitors to 16 for two in the eighth over.
Jayawardene, who survived numerous run out opportunities while pinching quick singles, was caught in the deep three balls after he made his century as Mitchell McClenaghan took three wickets in the 47th over.
