MOUNT MAUNGANUI, New Zealand (AP) Martin Guptill made 102 from 109 balls to lead New Zealand to 294-5 batting first on Tuesday in the fifth and final game of the one-day series against Sri Lanka.
Guptill batted with care and patience, anchoring the New Zealand innings until the 39th over through partnerships of 122 for the second wicket with Kane Williamson and 81 for the third with Ross Taylor. Both Williamson and Taylor made 61.
Guptill's watchful innings was in marked contrast to his previous aggressive knocks in earlier matches of the series, including 93 off just 30 balls in the second match.
Sri Lanka trails 2-1 - with one match abandoned - and is seeking a victory to square the series.
Sri Lanka won the toss and chose to bowl first on a hard, dry pitch and rocked New Zealand when Nuwan Pradeep - returning to the lineup in place of spinner Jeffrey Vandersay - dismissed Tom Latham (0) in the first over.
But Guptill was unruffled by the early loss of his opening partner and rebuilt the innings in a partnership with Williamson which occupied 23 overs.
New Zealand's approach seemed deliberately cautious - to establish a strong foundation for the innings while keeping wickets in hand - but it was also held down by some containing bowling. Pradeep and Dushmantha Chameera both bowled tight early spells and Tillakaratne Dilshan and Nuwan Kulasekara kept the pressure on through the middle of the innings.
That tight bowling forced some loose shots and to wickets which also kept the run rate in check.
Williamson seemed set for a big score when he attempted to pull a short ball from Dilshan and gloved a catch to wicketkeeper Dinesh Chandimal down the leg side.
Guptill holed out to Thisara Perera at long on from Kulasekara's bowling and newcomer Henry Nicholls (2) met a similar fate when he went for a big hit from the same bowler.
Kulasekara bowled superbly both through the middle overs and at the death, finishing with 3-53. He led a Sri Lanka attack which curbed New Zeland's scoring through skilful use of yorkers and slower deliveries.
Taylor kept the scoreboard ticking over after Guptill's departure with 61 from 67 balls. Luke Ronchi was promoted one place in the order to try and accelerate the scoring but even he was contained, finishing 37 not out from 31 balls.
Mitchell Santner took 21 runs from 11 balls to add some luster to the total.
