It's a fifth victory in this season's World Cup and a fourth in sprint races for Sundling, who crossed the line in a time of 2:59.64, 0.77 seconds ahead of Norway's Skistad, while Nadine Fahndrich finished third.
On the purpose-built course through the streets of Drammen, Sundling and Johanna Hagstrom were Sweden's only two finalists, after Linn Svahn and overall sprint leader Maja Dahlqvist were both eliminated in the semi-finals, as was overall World Cup leader, the USA's Jessie Diggins.
In the final, Skistad was quickest off the start line, as Sundling challenged Laura Gimmler of Germany for second in the first uphill section. Sundling and Hagstrom had to patiently wait for an opportunity to pass, before Gimmler injected a real burst of speed.
That forced a reaction from the favourites, and when the German went wide on the penultimate turn, Sundling and Skistad had space to come through on the inside.
Into the home straight the Swede drew level, but looked to have attacked too soon, as Skistad got the tips of her skis back in front. But on the last uphill section, Sundling proved she still had enough in the tank, out-sprinting the local racer to claim victory on Norwegian snow for Sweden.
Hagstrom came home in fourth, ahead of Gimmler, while another Norwegian, Ane Appelkvist Stenseth, finished sixth.
The home crowd were denied another procession for Johannes Hosflot Klaebo in the men's competition, after the most decorated Winter Olympian in history was involved in a crash in his semi-final, that saw neither he nor Ben Ogden of the USA complete the race.
Swede Anton Grahn won that semi-final, only to slip and fall in the final, eventually crossing the line nearly 50 seconds behind the rest. The Drammen crowd did at least see a Norwegian with the men's event, as Ansgar Evensen took victory, ahead of Jiri Tuz of the Czech Republic.
The Cross-Country World Cup now heads to Oslo on 14th March for the men's and women's 50km mass starts.
