NZ take early lead in T20 Series
View(s):A good all-round performance helped New Zealand women draw first blood in the three-match T20 series, beating hosts Sri Lanka women by five wickets in a low-scoring affair at the P. Sara Oval yesterday.
Chasing 107 to win, the White Ferns reached the target in 18.5 overs with Susie Bates top scoring 44. After put into bat first, Sri Lanka got off to the worst possible start losing their in-form opener Chamarai Athapaththu for a first-ball duck in the innings.
Though much was expected from left-handed aggressive batter, who smashed two centuries in the concluded ODI series against New Zealand, she could not deliver as Eden Carson had Athapaththu’s stumps rattled in the very first delivery of the match. Athapaththu is currently the No.1 ranked ODI batter in the world. Her early dismissal was a major blow to the Sri Lankan camp who managed only a below par total at the end of their overs.
There were some useful contributions from the batters, mainly Vishmi Gunaratne (28), Anushka Sanjeewani (18) and Oshadi Ranasinghe (18) but New Zealanders picked up wickets at regular intervals to restrict Sri Lanka women to a chaseable total. Amelia Kerr, Eden Carson and Leigh Kasperek picked up two wickets apiece. Sri Lanka women had New Zealand women in a spot of bother with off-spinner Inoshi Priyadarshani getting the reward for some tight bowling, but New Zealand held their nerves to chase down the target with seven balls to spare. Apart from Bates–the top scorer, Amelia Kerr hit 34 and shared a 58-run stand for the second wicket with Bates. Priyadarshani ended with figures of 3 for 17. The second game will be played tomorrow at the same venue.
| Chief scores: Sri Lanka Women 106 for 9 (20) (Vishmi Gunaratne 26, Anushka Sanjeewani 18, Oshadi Ranasinghe 18; Amelia Kerr 2/18, Eden Carson 2/20, Leigh Kasperel 2/21,) New Zealand Women 107 for 5 (18.5) (Suzie Bates 44, Amelia Kerr 34, Georgia Plimmer 16n.o.; Inoshi Priyadarshani 3/17) | |