Hosts New Zealand clinched the three-match T20I series against Sri Lanka 2-1 after a thrilling decider in Queenstown on Saturday (April 8).
After Sri Lanka posted a strong 182/6 from their 20 overs, riding on the back of a 48-ball 73 from Kusal Mendis, Tom Seifert led the reply with an equally brutal 88 off just 48 but a last over collapse took the chase down to the penultimate ball of the game.
With 10 to get off the final over and seven wickets in hand, the odds were well in favour of the hosts. On top of which, Mark Chapman hacked a six over deep midwicket off Lahiru Kumara on the very first ball. However, the hosts lost a hat-trick of wickets in the next three deliveries – including Jimmy Neesham to a run out without facing a ball – bringing the equation down to 3 off 3 before eventually winning the series with a ball to spare.
Following on from his 79* from the previous game, Seifert dominated two half-century stands up front in the chase. The opening partnership was worth 53 in 5.3 overs, in which Chad Bowes contributed only 17 off 18 balls before Kumara got the visitors a much-needed breakthrough. Seifert, however, joined hands with his captain Tom Latham (31 off 23) to put on 84 runs for the second-wicket that put the tall chase back on track. Latham played anchor, and Seifert carried on with his shots, getting to his second successive half-century with a six off Wanindu Hasaranga over midwicket, in just 26 deliveries. Between the two of them, the pair kept at least a boundary flowing every over. On the rare occasion they weren’t able to, they made it up with some excellent running between the wickets to keep up with the asking rate.
At 154/3, when Siefert fell at the beginning of the 17th over, New Zealand were comfortably placed with just 29 off 23 required. However, the three subsequent overs yielded 6, 6 and 7, leaving Kumara with just nine to play with in the final over. He had Chapman to-edging in the covers and the other set batter, Daryl Mitchell, miscuing his pull to give Sri Lanka a faint hope but Rachin Ravindra kept his calm to guide the hosts home in the end.
In the first innings, Mendis got Sri Lanka going in the powerplay, after a watchful start, with back to back sixes off Matt Henry. He welcomed spin into the attack by smoking a six straight over Ravindra’s head and despite losing his opening partner, Pathum Nissanka to Ish Sodhi at the other end, kept the attacking. The opener slammed four sixes and as many boundaries more in his entertaining knock, reaching his half-century in 36 balls with a stylish flick over deep square leg for six off Adam Milne.
Kusal Perera kept the tempo going, surviving a run-out chance on 24 before eventually succumbing to a Milne direct hit that brought the curtains down on his 21-ball cameo worth 31. Dhananjaya de Silva also slammed two maximums in his 9-ball knock of 20 but wickets in clusters towards the end halted Sri Lanka’s momentum keeping them to 182/6 which didn’t prove enough.
Result
| Batsmen | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kusal Mendis | c James Neesham b Ish Sodhi | 25 | 25 | 4 | 0 | 100.00 |
| Pathum Nissanka | c Ish Sodhi b Benjamin Lister | 73 | 48 | 6 | 5 | 152.08 |
| Kusal Perera | run out (Adam Milne) | 33 | 21 | 2 | 2 | 157.14 |
| Dhananjaya de Silva | c Tim Seifert b Benjamin Lister | 20 | 9 | 1 | 2 | 222.22 |
| Dasun Shanaka | c Chad Bowes b Adam Milne | 15 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 187.50 |
| Charith Asalanka | run out (Mark Chapman) | 3 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 50.00 |
| Wanindu Hasaranga | not out | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Mahesh Theekshana | not out | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Extras | 13 (b 2 , lb 1 , nb 0, w 10, pen 0) |
| Total | 182/6 (20 Overs, RR: 9.1) |
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Matt Henry | 4 | 0 | 33 | 0 | 8.25 | |
| Adam Milne | 4 | 1 | 30 | 1 | 7.50 | |
| Benjamin Lister | 4 | 0 | 37 | 2 | 9.25 | |
| Ish Sodhi | 4 | 0 | 30 | 1 | 7.50 | |
| James Neesham | 2 | 0 | 22 | 0 | 11.00 | |
| Rachin Ravindra | 2 | 0 | 27 | 0 | 13.50 | |
| Batsmen | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chad Bowes | c Kusal Mendis b Lahiru Kumara | 17 | 18 | 2 | 0 | 94.44 |
| Tim Seifert | c & b Pramod Madushan | 88 | 48 | 10 | 3 | 183.33 |
| Tom Latham | b Mahesh Theekshana | 31 | 23 | 1 | 1 | 134.78 |
| Daryl Mitchell | c Dasun Shanaka b Lahiru Kumara | 15 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 93.75 |
| Mark Chapman | c Charith Asalanka b Lahiru Kumara | 16 | 12 | 1 | 1 | 133.33 |
| James Neesham | run out (Kusal Mendis) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Rachin Ravindra | not out | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 200.00 |
| Adam Milne | not out | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Extras | 14 (b 1 , lb 9 , nb 0, w 4, pen 0) |
| Total | 183/6 (19.5 Overs, RR: 9.23) |
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kasun Rajitha | 4 | 0 | 34 | 0 | 8.50 | |
| Mahesh Theekshana | 4 | 0 | 22 | 1 | 5.50 | |
| Pramod Madushan | 4 | 0 | 38 | 1 | 9.50 | |
| Lahiru Kumara | 3.5 | 0 | 38 | 3 | 10.86 | |
| Wanindu Hasaranga | 4 | 0 | 41 | 0 | 10.25 | |
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