Cricket: It's all on for a clean sweep

A close call but Stephen Fleming's 37 last night made him the first New Zealander to eclipse the 7000-run mark. Phil Walter / Getty Images

Supersub spinner Jeetan Patel repaid the faith of the New Zealand selectors in spades last night after producing a match-winning performance in his side's unlikely 21-run triumph over Sri Lanka.

Set what seemed a relatively modest target of 224 to win the fourth ODI, Sri Lanka made a complete pig's ear of the chase, squandering several commanding positions before being dismissed for 203 and crashing to their ninth loss in 10 games.

Patel, recalled to the squad this week and employed last night as New Zealand's supersub, was the outstanding bowler in the second innings, playing his trade right up to the 46th over before ending with two for 23 off 10.

It was a red-letter day for the Wellington off-spinner, who lived up to the plaudits of coach John Bracewell and marked his first international on home soil with a beautifully controlled performance.

At a time when star spinner Daniel Vettori was conceding 50 off his 10 overs, and most of the New Zealand pacemen were struggling, Patel managed to not only dry up the run-rate but also chip out two of Sri Lanka's most dangerous batsmen - young opener Jeehan Mubarak and end-of-innings expert Russel Arnold.

The result would have come as a bitter pill for the Sri Lankans, who looked odds-on to break their drought through most of the second innings, but particularly when they were 92 for one in the 15th over and 156 for four in the 34th. Their quest for a change in fortune initially began to come unstuck when Chris Cairns went through the defences of Kumar Sangakkara, sparking a NZ rally that saw James Franklin, Vettori and Shane Bond land critical blows.

Only Mubarak, who went into the match with an average of 9.71, kept the tourists on track through the middle stages, but when he was expertly caught in the deep by Cairns off man-of-the-match Patel, the writing seemed on the wall.

New Zealand deliberately took their less-preferred option at the toss and batted first, scrambling through to what seemed an inadequate total following a major middle-order collapse.

New Zealand last elected to bat first on home soil two years ago at the same ground, when they edged out Pakistan in a high-scoring thriller and only decided for a repeat performance last night after concerns they were becoming too one-dimensional.

As it happened, their fears were mostly realised when the Sri Lankan bowlers made much of the early running on a slowish surface, and looked set to dismiss New Zealand for a sub-200 total before a late flurry from Franklin.

Having initially lost openers Jamie How and Lou Vincent when the total was 14, New Zealand were well served by Stephen Fleming (37), Peter Fulton (50) and Hamish Marshall (50).

It was a watershed innings for Fleming, who - when he reached 22 - managed to become the first New Zealander to eclipse the 7000-run mark.

For all that, the dominant figure in New Zealand innings was undoubtedly left-arm paceman Chaminda Vaas, who claimed five for 39.