Wellington: Tillakaratne Dilshan scored a composed knock of 91 as Sri Lanka thumped New Zealand by eight wickets in the third one-day international to keep the five-match series alive at Nelson's Saxton Oval on Thursday.

Chasing a target of 277, Sri Lanka started off on a blistering pace with openers Danushka Gunathilaka and Dilshan setting the tone for a morale-boosting with a brisk opening stand of 98 from 12.4 overs, Stuff.co.nz reported.