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.
Right-arm pacer Tim Southee’s brilliant bowling followed by half centuries from wicketkeeper-batsman Tim Seifert and captain Kane Williamson helped New Zealand secure a comfortable nine-wicket win over Pakistan in the second T20I at the Seddon Park on Sunday.
Chasing 164, the Black Caps rode on a brilliant 84 not out from Seifert and unbeaten 57 from Williamson to comfortably chase down the target with four balls to spare.
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Earlier, opting to bat, Pakistan once started poorly as they lost Haider Ali (8), Abdullah Shafique (0) and Mohammad Rizwan (22) within the first six overs with just 33 runs on the board.
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Veteran all-rounder Mohammad Hafeez then tried to steady the ship. However, wickets kept falling at other end. In the end, Hafeez remained not out on 99. During the course of his 57-ball knock, the 40-year-old smashed 10 fours and 5 sixes and helped the visitors post 163/6 — a below par-total — in their allotted 20 overs.
Southee was pick of the New Zealand bowlers as he returned with figures of 4/21 in his four overs.
The hosts, then made easy work of the chase as they just lost the lone wicket of opener Martin Guptill who scored 21 runs from 11 balls, with the help of two 6s and a four before getting out by Faheem Ashraf before getting over the line in the final over of the match.
After his wicket, Seifert and Williamson, who returned to the team after becoming a father recently, shared an unbeaten stand of 129 to take the team home.
Pakistan had lost the first match by five wickets in Auckland on Friday.
The two teams will now face each other in the third and final T20I in Napier on Tuesday.
Brief scores: Pakistan 163/6 (Mohammad Hafeez 99*; Tim Southee 4/21) lose to New Zealand 164/1 (Tim Seifert 84*; Faheem Ashraf 1/19)
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