Pallekele: Mahela Jayawardene won the toss in Pallekele and decided to put New Zealand in to bat on a fresh pitch, which looked similar to the one used for the second game.
Sri Lanka went in with an unchanged line-up. New Zealand made a couple of changes, beefing up their side with the experience of Brendon McCullum and Jacob Oram. Tom Latham made way for Brendon who missed the second ODI due to injury. The allrounder Andrew Ellis was down with a stomach bug and he was replaced by Oram.
Teams
Sri Lanka: Tillakaratne Dilshan, Upul Tharanga, Kumar Sangakkara (wk), Mahela Jayawardene (capt), Angelo Mathews, Lahiru Thirimanne, Jeevan Mendis, Thisara Perera, Nuwan Kulasekara, Rangana Herath, Lasith Malinga
New Zealand: Rob Nicol, Brendon McCullum, Ross Taylor (capt), Kane Williamson, James Franklin, BJ Watling (wk), Jacob Oram, Nathan McCullum, Kyle Mills, Tim Southee, Trent Boult