The Black Caps continued their great form and bundled out Sri Lanka for a mere 136. Lockie Ferguson and Matt Henry were the star bowlers for the Kiwis as both of them took 3 wickets each. Sri Lanka could not counter the pace and swing bowling of New Zealand and caved in for a paltry 136.
Winning the toss, New Zealand elected to field first against Sri Lanka at Sophia Gardens in Cardiff on Saturday.
Matt Henry was the first bowler to strike when he sent Lahiru Thirimanne (4) back to the dressing room with the scorecard reading just 4 runs. Though a 42-run partnership between Dimuth Karunaratne and Kusal Perera for the second wicket steadied the Lankan ship for a while, Henry struck again to send Perera back to the pavilion for 29 – second highest from the Lankan side – and opened the floodgates.
After this, wickets fell consistently and Sri Lanka were wrapped up for 136. Karunaratne played a resilient knock of 52 not out. None of the other batsmen could dig in the heels to support him. For the Kiwis – who were bowling without Tim Southee – Lockie Ferguson and Matt Henry ended with the figures of 3/22 and 3/29 respectively.