Sri Lanka's chase was sparked by an exceptional fifth-wicket stand and an even stronger sixth-wicket combination, which helped them defeat New Zealand in a close final over. The principal architect was Nilakshika Silva. She made her best international innings, a wonderfully timed 54 not out off 37 that saw Sri Lanka win with two balls and five wickets remaining, after arriving at the crease at 55 for 4, with the necessary rate quickly rising over nine.
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| Nilakshika Silva hits a goal offside |
In each of her partnerships, Nilakshika received significant assistance. Although New Zealand were still clear favourites when they were dismissed with 45 runs remaining off 30 deliveries, Kavisha Dilhari joined her for a 50-run partnership that fixed the innings. During a partnership that produced 48 runs off 28 deliveries, Kaushini Nuthyangana, who had earlier played well behind the stumps, outscored Nilakshika with a nervous 24 not out off 14.
Once more, New Zealand's inadequate catching caused them to fail. New Zealand would have taken five wickets in five overs, and Nilakshika would have been out for just one if Bree Illing had held a sitter at short fine leg in the tenth. In the final few overs, when Sri Lanka's hitters were starting to successfully counter pressure, their ground fielding also declined.
A strong bowling effort from Sri Lanka, where the spinners imposed themselves, had also restrained their batting. Melie Kerr and Sophie Devine each hit 45, but 150 for 6 always seemed a bit light on a rather slow Southampton surface that was nonetheless generally suitable for batting.
With the defeat, New Zealand has now lost its first two games and will need to focus on winning its matchups against England, Scotland, and Ireland. After losing to England in their first match, Sri Lanka is currently on the points table. They will now get ready for Sunday's game against the West Indies. They will be in a great position to go to the semi-finals if they win there.
Sri Lanka is revived by Nilakshika
With 95 runs to be scored off 57 deliveries, Sri Lanka was down to their final three acknowledged hitters when Nilakshika came. She was obviously timing the ball well from the beginning, but she frequently struggled to pierce the infield and didn't find her first boundary until the thirteenth ball she faced. Fortunately for Sri Lanka, Dilhari remained upbeat during the early stages of this collaboration, never letting the necessary rate go too far out of reach.
But Nilakshika started to find the open areas after the twelfth over. A six over Devine's head at deep midwicket, where she could have pouched the catch if she had stood closer to the rope, followed by fours through wide mid-on and extra cover.
Dilhari lost her wicket due to a running error that may have been Nilakshika's fault. However, that only seemed to strengthen Nilakshika's resolve to complete the pursuit. Throughout the final five overs, she was outstanding, finding singles in between crucial boundaries as the pressure increased. With 28 runs required in the final two overs, Nilakshika's two boundaries against Melie in the 18th over turned the tide of the contest in Sri Lanka's favour. One was a square drive through a cover point with a bent knee after Melie had hung the ball out wide. She stormed past Jess Kerr at fine leg in one sweep.
Nuthyangana excels with the bat and behind the stumps
Both Sri Lanka's first and last brilliant moments in this game came from Nuthyangana. Her low catch to remove Isabella Gaze from slinger Mithali Amodhya's bowling set the stage for an energetic fielding display by Sri Lanka. Although she did initiate the review that overturned the not-out verdict, she would go on to claim two more catches: an easier take to dismiss Brooke Halliday and a hard run towards fine leg to go under one high chance.
But she will be known in this game for her batting. Before this, she had a high score of 19 not out in 10 T20I innings, but she played an almost perfect closing hand with Silva. Crucially, she found the singles and twos in between these larger strikes, even though her first two boundaries went wide. She blasted one past square leg with two required off three balls, causing the Sri Lankan dugout to erupt in happy celebrations and beaming smiles.
Kerr and Devine keep New Zealand united
Devine and Kerr were undoubtedly New Zealand's most seasoned hitters in Suzie Bates' absence, and they each struck 45 to keep the New Zealand innings afloat. Georgia Plimmer and Kerr had a 49-run partnership, but neither batter was able to locate many boundaries during the power play. Later, as Sri Lanka's spinners made progress and struck at 150, Devine guided New Zealand through the middle overs.
New Zealand's four-in-four
Between overs five and nine of Sri Lanka's innings, New Zealand had their finest passage of the match, taking four wickets for ten runs. Nensi Patel, an offspinner, finished with New Zealand's best stats of 2 for 23 after scoring twice during this period. Chamari Athapaththu, who scored 27, was crucially removed by Bree Illing. Melie Kerr's superb direct-hit run-out took the other wicket.
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