Middle-order batter Will Young's steady hand has guided New Zealand to a one-day series victory over Sri Lanka at Hamilton's Seddon Park.
Chasing a modest 157-run target set by the tourists, the Blackcaps were reeling at 59/4, before Young and Henry Nicholls stablised the pursuit with a 100-run partnership that saw their side home.
After victory in the series-opener and a rained-out second encounter, the home side have secured a 2-0 result to consolidate their position atop the ICC Super League, before the ODI World Cup in India later this year.
Bowlers Matt Henry, Henry Shipley and Daryl Mitchell took three wickets apiece to put the Sri Lankans on the backfoot with the bat, but the visitors were quickly on top with the ball, removing both NZ openers Chad Bowes and Tom Blundell in identical fashion - caught wicketkeeper Kusal Mendis, bowled Lahiru Kumara - in the second over.
Mendis had a third scalp behind the stumps, when Mitchell nicked off Kasun Rajitha for just six, while captain Tom Latham played Dasun Shanaka onto his stumps for eight.
When the skipper departed, New Zealand needed only 99 runs with 35 overs remaining, but needed to halt the skid. Young and Nicholls provided that starch, with the former compiling 86 off 113 balls and the latter 44 off 52.
Nicholls provided the winning runs with a four in the 33rd over. Incredibly, the Blackcaps failed to clear the boundary at all, although their total featured 18 fours - Young, later named Man of the Match, had 11 of them.
Both teams now move into Twenty20 mode for a three-match series that begins Sunday at Auckland's Eden Park.
Sri Lanka 157 (Nissanka 57, Shanaka 31; Henry 3/14, Shipley 3/32, Mitchell 3/32) NZ 159/4 (Young 86no, Nicholls 44no; Kumara 2/39)
NZ win by six wickets
