KEY POINTS:
New Zealand won the second one-day international against Sri Lanka - but only after a heart-stopping finish in which the result swung on the last batsman and the last ball of the match.
Chasing Sri Lanka's 224 for seven, the home side looked on track for a comfortable win until their customary collapse in the second half of the innings left No 11 Michael Mason with the job of striking the winning runs.
With the scores tied at the start of the final over, Mason brought the crowd of just over 7000 to fever-pitch by remaining scoreless against Sanath Jayasuriya's first five deliveries, then smashing the last to the boundary.
The last-minute win means New Zealand have levelled the series 1-all before tomorrow's third ODI at Christchurch, although their struggle to overtake what seemed a modest total will not leave their supporters brimming with confidence.
Quick runs came at the top of the order from James Marshall and Brendon McCullum, and Hamish Marshall did some promising work in the middle.
But it was left to the bowlers to rescue their side with the bat.
After a much-improved performance with the ball, James Franklin came in at No 9 and brought some composure to the chase, striking the ball down the ground nicely and pacing himself to be there at the end.
His unbeaten 45 off 46 balls included only three boundaries but plenty of singles and twos - and, with his one-for-46 with the ball, earned him a belated vote for man-of-the-match.
The win would have come as a relief for the New Zealanders after the mauling they received in the first ODI last Thursday.
But the manner in which they staggered and blundered as the pressure increased will offer plenty of food for thought.
It was a contest that favoured New Zealand from the start, and should have been won at a canter.
They won the toss and elected to bowl on a pitch that was slow, inconsistent and offering plenty of seam, with biting-cold temperatures that prevented it from drying quickly.
They also received the rub of the green on a couple of occasions as Sri Lanka batted, most notably when danger-man Kumar Sangakkara was unluckily run out at the bowler's end for 89 - the highest individual score posted at Queenstown.
And to help them on their way, the sun came out during the second innings and dried the pitch, making batting far more comfortable.
But the New Zealanders produced a better bowling performance than in their nightmare in Napier, finding a much more demanding line and length, and dictating proceedings against all but the outstanding Sangakkara.
Mark Gillespie, Michael Mason, Andre Adams and James Franklin would have all been relieved after completing economical spells, and skipper Daniel Vettori kept a tight rein on the run-rate between the 20th and 40th overs.
Such was the improvement that Sri Lanka lost three wickets inside the first 12 overs, including a first ODI scalp for Gillespie, whose perfectly pitched in-swinger rocketed through Mahela Jayawardene's attempted defensive shot.
Sangakkara, though, showed little discomfort in the tricky conditions.
He adjusted quickly to the pace of the wicket to repair the innings, build a couple of partnerships and set up what at one stage looked likely to be a total of more than 250.
The left-hander was forced to be more cautious because of the early predicament, bringing up his 50 off 73 balls, but always looked capable of putting away the loose ball.
His dismissal, run out at the bowler's end off a deflected drive from partner Silva, was a costly blow for the Sri Lankans and meant New Zealand were able to fare reasonably well during the final overs, conceding only 60 runs off the last 10.
New Zealand have made one change to their squad for tomorrow's showdown in Christchurch, bringing back fast bowler Shane Bond at the expense of back-up batsman Craig McMillan. Stephen Fleming remains on the rest list.
NZ SQUAD
Daniel Vettori (c), Nathan Astle, Brendon McCullum, Ross Taylor, Peter Fulton, Hamish Marshall, James Marshall, James Franklin, Andre Adams, Mark Gillespie, Shane Bond, Michael Mason, Jeetan Patel.
Sri Lanka
U. Tharanga c Taylor b Mason 23
S. Jayasuriya b Mason 1
M. Jayawardene b Gillespie 4
K. Sangakkara run out (Adams) 89
M. Atapattu b Vettori 22
C. Silva c H Marshall b Franklin 31
T. Dilshan c Taylor b Gillespie 8
F. Maharoof not out 29
C. Vaas not out 9
Extras (3lb, 4w, 1nb) 8
--Total (for 7 wkts, 50 overs) 224
Fall: 1/4 (Jayasuriya), 2/14 (Jayawardene), 3/50 (Tharanga), 4/102 (Atapattu), 5/176 (Sangakkara), 6/177 (Silva), 7/192 (Dilshan).
Bowling: M. Gillespie 10-0-46-2 (1nb, 3w), M. Mason 10-0-50-2 (1w), J. Franklin 10-0-46-1, D. Vettori 10-0-37-1, A. Adams 10-0-42-0.
New Zealand
B. McCullum lbw b Maharoof 32
J. Marshall run out 50
R. Taylor run out 15
P. Fulton lbw b Muralitharan 2
D. Vettori b Malinga 19
C. McMillan c Jayawardene b Muralitharan 2
H. Marshall c and b Dilshan 29
J. Franklin not out 45
A. Adams lbw b Muralitharan 6
M. Gillespie c Maharoof b Vaas 11
M. Mason not out 4
Extras (5lb, 4w, 4nb) 13
--Total (for 9 wkts, 50 overs) 228
Fall: 1/57 (McCullum), 2/87 (Taylor), 3/91 (Fulton), 4/121 (J. Marshall), 5/126 (McMillan), 6/141 (Vettori), 7/175 (H. Marshall), 8/194 (Adams), 9/223 (Gillespie).
Bowling: C. Vaas 10-0-46-1 (1w), L. Malinga 10-0-53-1 (1w, 1nb), M. Maharoof 8-0-40-1 (3nb), M. Muralitharan 10-1-31-3 (1w), S. Jayasuriya 5-0-28-0 (1w), T. Dilshan 7-0-25-1.
