Pallekele International Cricket Stadium, Pallekele
Sri Lanka
New Zealand
Sri Lanka
New Zealand
Man of the Match: TG Southee
?New Zealand extends their slender lead by 9-7 against Sri Lanka in T20 Internationals
?Lasith Malinga is 1 wicket away from becoming the first player in the T20 Internationals to take 100 wickets
?Munro needs 8 more sixes to become the fourth player to reach 100 sixes milestone and give company to his partner Guptill
CRICBETTINGBUZZ PREDICTION: New Zealand to win the match!
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It was high drama and intensity in the first T20 international between these two sides at this very same Pallekele stadium. The stadium was jam-packed and there were quite a few legs which moved even when the rain interrupted. They were not disappointed by these two teams, as there were some brilliantly opening spells, towering sixes, gymnastic catches near the boundary and some dolly drop chances.
Sri Lanka won the toss and they opted to bat. When the Skipper Southee was controlling things from one end, Rance was spraying all over from the other end. Southee was rewarded for his control as he picked up the dangerous Kusal Perera for 11 runs, but the scoreboard already raced to 50 at the end of the powerplay with Kusal Mendis scoring more than 50% runs. Santner worked over struggling Fernando and had him stumped for 10 runs. Mendis unperturbed at the other end reached his fifth T20 fifty. The Mendis and Dickwella pair operated at more than 10 runs every over. Southee returned to remove Mendis, but the damage has already been done with his 53-ball 79 as he walked off to a huge roar. The real onslaught happened in the 20th over by Rance as Udana and Shanaka scored 23 runs and plummeted the score to 174.
The chase started horribly for the Kiwis as Slinga Malinga removed Munro with a peach of a Yorker equaling Afridi’s tally of most T20 wickets. 2 more wickets fell with Guptill perishing at mid-wicket and Seifert who was all at sea against spin got caught behind. With the Kiwis reeling at 39-3, their best players of spin Grandhomme and Taylor joined hands. Thereafter boundaries were scored every over, singles were turned to doubles and the partnership was eye-catching. From over no. 10 to 13, 17 runs were scored in every over as Taylor swept the spinners, Grandhomme pulled the seamers for4 sixes. Malinga over took Afridi as Grandhomme missed a straight delivery and the stadium erupted. Just when the Kiwis were cruising, the leggie Hasaranga had Taylor LBW for 48, heavens opened, and New Zealand suddenly short of DL par due to that wicket. Hosts were smelling victory and Santner smashed their hopes with a huge six off Udana.
Match clinched on Malinga’s 19th over but he sprayed down 5 wides in his first delivery and there was stunned silence. When Mitchell deposited Malinga over long-on, the crowds started dispersing as NZ won by 5 wickets.
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Skipper Lasith Malinga would be seriously disappointed with his 19th over as his figures jumped from 2/8 to 2/23. Udana was very predictable with his slower deliveries. It was eye-pleasing to see the Lankan youngsters throwing themselves around and stopping boundaries during the powerplays, but you cannot win matches when you drop a player like Taylor twice. Batting troop will look to replicate their previous match performance with a little more impetus in those middle overs.
Key Players:
Wanidu Hasaranga: Another talented T20 leggie. His spell of 2/21 off 4 overs doesn’t give the information of how he built pressure to remove Taylor. He was so consistent giving away only 2 boundaries
Kusal Perera: He was looking in elements when he smashed Rance twice to the boundary. Watch out for him this game
Niroshan Dickwella, Akila Dananjaya, Avishka Fernando, Shehan Jayasuriya, Kusal Perera, Dasun Shanaka, Kusal Mendis , Wanidu Hasaranga, Lakshan Sandakan, Isuru Udana, Lasith Malinga
Kusal Perera (Wk), Kusal Mendis, Niroshan Dickwella, Fernando, Shehan Jayasuriya, Dasun Shanaka, Isuru Udana, Akila Dananjaya, Wanidu Hasaranga, Lahiru Kumara, Lasith Malinga(C)
Tim Southee was brilliant with his bowling as he ended with figures of 2 for 20 in 4 overs. But his astute captaincy to send the inform Grandhomme higher up the order, even before Taylor impressed everyone. Barring Rance the team had a decent bowling outing. Munro needs to find answers against Mali’s in-dippers. Siefert lacked skill against spin. The senior Pros Grandhomme and Taylor were just an exhibition in their 80-run stand. There was lots of promise from their finisher Daryl Mitchell.
Key Players:
Ross Taylor: He is the best player of the spin in that line-up. And the love story between him and the midwicket boundary continued as he ended with an impressive 29 ball 48.
Martin Guptill: His struggle from the world cup continued. A big score is around the corner for this guy and there is no easier format than T20 to break free.
Mitchell Santner, Daryl Mitchell, Colin Munro, Seth Rance, Tim Seifert, Colin de Grandhomme, Martin Guptill, Scott Kuggeleijn, Tom Bruce, Ish Sodhi, TG Southee
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R | B | 4s | 6s | SR |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
R Taylor | 48 | 29 | 3 | 2 | 165.52 |
C de Grandhomme | 44 | 28 | 4 | 2 | 157.14 |
D Mitchell | 25 | 19 | 0 | 2 | 131.58 |
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O | M | R | W | Econ |
T Southee | 4.0 | 0 | 20 | 2 | 5 |
M Santner | 4.0 | 0 | 22 | 1 | 5.5 |
S Rance | 4.0 | 0 | 58 | 0 | 14.5 |
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O | M | R | W | Econ |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
T Southee | 4.0 | 0 | 20 | 2 | 5 |
M Santner | 4.0 | 0 | 22 | 1 | 5.5 |
S Rance | 4.0 | 0 | 58 | 0 | 14.5 |
Martin Guptill, ColinMunro, Tim Seifert (Wk), Ross Taylor, Daryl Mitchell, Colin de Grandhomme, Santner, Kuggelejin, Southee(C), Ish Sodhi, Rance
Rain will pay a visit to the matches in this period in this nation. Expect much more assistance to the spinners, but for that to happen the rain should stay away to keep the ball dry. Expect another cracker with a total around 160.
Win toss, Bowl first. With the rain around the corner, teams will look to chase the DL targets rather than batting first.
The Kiwi openers with so much T20 experience cannot be away from runs for too many matches. If the outfield stays wet like the previous matches, NZ batsmen will have an advantage from the fact that Sri Lankan spinners can’t land the ball where they desire. The long handles of Taylor, Grandhomme, and Mitchell will look to take them through.
Our prediction is New Zealand to win!
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