Sri Lanka prepare for New Zealand challenge with unchanged T20I squad
Sri Lanka have named a strong 16-member squad led by Charith Asalanka for a six-match white-ball series involving three T20Is followed by three ODIs, against New Zealand.
New Zealand bundled out Sri Lanka for a paltry 122 runs in the second innings on Monday to complete a series-levelling win. The Kiwis won the match by an innings and 65 runs on the last day of the second Test Match.
Notably, New Zealand had not been able to complete their first innings until the fifth day morning and there was a huge probability that the match might end in a draw with Sri Lanka needing to bat out less than a day to save the match and clinch the series 1-0. However, after batting some five odd overs on the fifth day morning and allowing BJ Watling to complete his century, New Zealand finally declared on 431 for six.
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New Zealand thus had a lead of 187 runs in the first innings and had 91 overs of play remaining to try and push for a win and the Kiwi bowlers came to the party and gave them the early breakthroughs. Sri Lanka were 32 for 5 at lunch and with the pressure mounting, it was always going to be difficult for Sri Lanka from there on to try and save the match.
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Despite a 51 run sixth-wicket stand between injured Dimuth Karunaratne and Niroshan Dickwella giving them some hopes for a draw, as it turned out, they were successful in only delaying their defeat as Tim Southee picked up the wicket of Karunaratne. Dickwella stayed at the crease a little longer but could not save the match for Sri Lanka even with his gritty 51.
In the post-match presentation, New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson said, “Lost the toss but a great effort to push for victory and ultimately come out on the winning side. Naturally when the game starts coming so close, and the light’s always a factor here as well this time of the year (you do get tense).
“But it was an outstanding effort from the first innings itself. And then the batters scored at a rate that allowed us to move the game forward. Great individual contributions that allowed us to get the win. Deserve to be 1-1,” he added.
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