NAPIER: Chaminda Vaas took four wickets to fashion Sri Lanka's 20-run win over New Zealand and prevent a Kiwi sweep of the five-match one-day series here on Sunday.

Vaas took the vital wicket of New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming for a duck in the first over and returned to take three wickets in his last two overs to cut the host's margin to 4-1 in the series.

New Zealand's new batting hope, Peter Fulton, came up with another good knock. The tall right-hander followed half-centuries in the second and fourth matches with a century from 120 balls to give his team a bright chance of completing a whitewash.

New Zealand, chasing Sri Lanka's 273 for six, lost Fleming and Lou Vincent in the first two overs. Fulton then forged partnerships of 108 with Nathan Astle (47) and 78 with Hamish Marshall (35), coming to the wicket with New Zealand 13 for two and leaving when it was just 50 runs away from the target.

The innings disintegrated after his departure, as Vaas bowled a brilliant second spell to remove Chris Cairns (28), Daniel Vettori and James Franklin to give Sri Lanka a 20-run victory with 10 balls to spare. Vaas finished with four for 48 from nine overs and was well supported by Ruchira Perera, who took three for 56 in his first one-day appearance in seven years. — AP

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