New Zealand clinched victory by 3 runs against the visiting Sri Lanka in the first Twenty20 International at the Bay Oval in Mount Maunganui on Thursday . Image Source : zimbio.com[/caption]Mt. Maunganui : New Zealand clinched victory by 3 runs against the visiting Sri Lanka in the first Twenty20 International at the Bay Oval in Mount Maunganui on Thursday . Black Caps thus take a 1-0 lead in the two-match T-20 series.
Sri Lanka captain Dinesh Chandimal won the toss and elected to field first. Kiwi captain,Kane Williamson(52) and Martin Guptill’s(58) opening partnership of 101 runs provided a strong base for the home side . Ross Taylor’s contribution of 22runs off just 9 deliveries and Guptill’s 34-ball innings studded with 4 fours and 4 sixes anchored the Black Caps to a formidable 182 runs for six wickets . Nuwan Kulasekara who took the wickets of Kane Williamson and Colin Munro was the pick amongst the Lankan bowlers .
Chasing the total, Sri Lanka lost wickets at regular intervals. Tillakaratne Dilshan was the first to go , without troubling the scorers . Danushka Gunathilaka (46) and Milinda Siriwardana (42) added 42 runs for the fourth wicket . Gunathilaka got out to a Ish Sodhi delivery . Siriwardana(42) was again involved in a 49-run partnership with Thisara Perera (28) for the sixth wicket . But failure to score at a brisk rate in the death overs did the Lankans in as they lost by a slender margin of 3 runs . Kiwi pacer Trent Boult was at his peak, scalping 3 wickets conceding just 21 runs with an economy of 5.25 , thus restricting the Lankans to 179. Matt Henry also picked up three wickets while Grant Elliott and Ish Sodhi got one each.
New Zealand fielding was top-class while Sri Lanka dropped a few easy catches. Yet the Lankans put up a great fight and made it an interesting contest to watch till the end.
Trent Boult was adjudged the Man of the Match for his superb bowling figures of 4-0-21-3.
Brief Scores: New Zealand (182 for 4 in 20 overs) beat Sri Lanka (179 for 9 in 20 overs) by 3 runs.
0 comments:
Post a Comment