Sri Lanka win toss, bat against New Zealand

Wellington: Sri Lanka won the toss and opted to bat in their seventh and final one-day international against New Zealand in Wellington Thursday.

"The pitch looks really good and we want to take the maximum out of it," said Lahiru Thirimanne who will again captain the tourists in place of the injured Angelo Mathews.

New Zealand, who have an unbeatable 4-1 lead in the series, are resting captain Brendon McCullum in one of two changes.

Tom Latham will open the innings in place of McCullum while strike bowler Tim Southee comes in for Trent Boult.

Sri Lanka, in need of a morale-boosting win ahead of the World Cup have made four changes with Seekkuge Prasanna, Nuwan Kulasekara, Shamiunda Eranga, and Dushmantha Chameera replacing Jeevan Mendis, Rangana Herath, Dhammika Prasad and Suranga Lakmal.

The next time these two teams meet will be in the World Cup opener on February 14 in Christchurch when Sri Lanka should be reinforced by fast bowler Lasith Malinga who has missed this series because of injury.

Teams:

New Zealand: Martin Guptill, Tom Latham, Kane Williamson (capt), Ross Taylor, Grant Elliott, Corey Anderson, Luke Ronchi, Daniel Vettori, Kyle Mills, Tim Southee, Mitchell McClenaghan

Sri Lanka: Tillakaratne Dilshan, Dimuth Karunaratne, Mahela Jayawardene, Kumar Sangakkara, Dinesh Chandimal, Lahiru Thirimanne (capt), Thisara Perera, Seekkuge Prasanna, Nuwan Kulasekara, Shamiunda Eranga, Dushmantha Chameera. (AFP)