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T20 World Cup: New Zealand Defeat Sri Lanka In Group 2 Super 8 Clash: Sri Lanka out to shrug off the home-team blues

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In the ICC Men’s T20 Cricket World Cup, New Zealand defeated Sri Lanka by 61 runs in their Group 2 Super Eight clash at R.Premadasa Stadium in Colombo last night. With this win, New Zealand have moved one step closer to the semifinals. Their final Super Eight clash against semifinalists England is crucial. Sri Lanka were knocked out, though they still have one match to play.

Chasing 169, Sri Lanka made a terrible start to crawl to 20/2 in the powerplay and failed to gain any momentum. Ravindra then ran through the brittle Lankan middle order to help the Kiwis limit the co-hosts for a paltry 107/8. For New Zealand, Rachin Ravindra scalped four wickets, Matt Henry took two wickets while skipper Mitchell Santner and Glenn Phillips claimed a wicket each. Rachin Ravindra was declared Player of the Match for his all-round performance.

Earlier, skipper Mitchell Santner with 47 and Cole McConchie 31 unbeaten led New Zealand’s fightback after middle-order collapse as the Kiwis posted 168/7 in the stipulated twenty overs. For Sri Lanka, Maheesh Theekshana and Dushmantha Chameera scalped three wickets each while Dunith Wellalage took a wicket.

Today, West Indies will take on South Africa in the Super 8 Group 1 at Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. The match will start at 3 PM.  In another match, India will face Zimbabwe in the Super 8 Group 1 at MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. The match will start at 7 PM.

Who wants to be a host? At this point in the T20 World Cup, perhaps very few hands would go up. Maybe none. The two co-hosts, India and Sri Lanka, are both feeling the heat, their campaigns already wobbling in the Super Eights. The defeats were heavy, yes, but it was the manner of them that stung more. On surfaces they have grown up on, the batting looked limited, short on imagination and, at times, bereft of solutions.
For Sri Lanka, the unease goes a little further back. The loss to Zimbabwe in the final league fixture might have come with a few changes and at a venue that hasn’t always been kind to them in T20Is, but it still jarred. On most days, you expect Sri Lanka to beat Zimbabwe. Instead, as a consequence of that loss, they head into a must-win clash against New Zealand, knowing another slip could end their tournament.
For New Zealand, the uncertainty is of a different kind. By the time they take the field, they would have watched every other team play a match in the Super Eights. Stocks have dipped for the likes of India and Sri Lanka in the meantime, and risen for the likes of South Africa and West Indies, but for New Zealand, the shares haven’t even been listed yet. They made the journey across the Palk Strait and are still waiting to discover how their game stacks up on slower pitches and larger outfields.
Captain Mitchell Santner admitted it “feels like we haven’t played for a few days”, a nod to the washout and the extended break that followed. Training sessions – two of them, one in the afternoon and another in the evening – can only simulate so much.

 

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