Sri Lanka displayed a much improved performance to give the New Zealanders a scare in the 2nd T20i held at the Saxton Oval in Nelson today.
The visitors, who had thus far been hammered in the 5 match ODI series as well as the 1st T20i, looked like they would pull off a historic 1st win on Kiwi soil midway through their chase. New Zealand’s savior with the bat Captain Suzie Bates swooped in to save them once again and the hosts ended up defending their total of 114 thanks to her spell of 3 for 23.
Chasing a mediocre 114, the Lankans had their sights set on turning the tables on the hosts. The chase began well, with Captain Chamari Atapattu leading the way right from the get go. With the required rate just under a run a ball, the Lankans looked to keep wickets in hand in the early overs and set about scoring at around 5 runs an over. Opener Prasadini Weerakkody provided ample support to her skipper as the openers put on 64 runs in the 1st 13 overs. Weerakkody fell in the 13th over, giving the Ferns an opportunity to exploit Sri Lanka’s fickle middle order and they did just that, as Bates picked up 3 quick wickets. Atapattu too fell, in the chaos that followed, for a well-made 47 and the tourists were reduced to 86 for 5 in no time. All was not lost as Sri Lanka had dropped a couple of their less experienced batters, Anushka Sanjeewani and Hasini Perera, down the order and with 12 needed off the last over, it seemed like a pretty good move. However, Leigh Kasperek picked up 3 wickets in the last over of the game to wrap up the match and the series for the White Ferns as Sri Lanka fell short by 11 runs.
Earlier in the day, Suzie Bates had played a lone hand in the White Ferns’ batting effort, continuing her imperious form to stroked 69 off 58 deliveries. The Lankan ladies had been comprehensively beaten in all the games preceding this one, with their main struggle coming against the class top order the White Ferns possessed. Their fortunes changed somewhat in this match as medium pacer Ama Kanchana picked up three wickets in as many overs to reduce the hosts to 28 for 3 in 6 overs. In form batters Rachael Priest, Sophie Devine and Sara McGlashan all fell for single figures, with Kanchana getting the ball to nip around. This was by far Si Lanka’s best start to a match on this tour and they capitalized on it, not allowing the Ferns’ batters to get going. Suzie Bates rose head and shoulders above the rest with Liz Perry’s 16 being the next highest score for the White Ferns. Bates was run-out off the last ball of the innings as she led her team to 114/7 which proved to be just enough in the end. Kanchana finished with career best figures of 3 for 22 while Oshadie Ranasinghe and Inoka Ranaweera chipped in with a wicket a piece.
With the win, the White Ferns take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the 3 match T20i series, with the final match of the tour to be held later this week at the same venue.
New Zealand Women 114/7 (20) (Suzie Bates 69, Liz Perry 16, Ama Kanchana 3/22)
Sri Lanka Women 103/8 (20) (Chamari Atapattu 47, Prasadini Weerakkody 21, Suzie Bates 3/23, Leigh Kasperek 3/7)
New Zealand Women won by 11 runs
