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Perera and Asalanka shine in Sri Lanka's victory
Perera and Asalanka shine in Sri Lanka's victory
New Zealand Won the T20I home series against the experienced Sri Lanka.
Kusal Perera played an amazing innings, scoring 101 runs off just 46 balls, helping Sri Lanka win a thrilling final T20I match against New Zealand at the Saxton Oval in Nelson. Even though Sri Lanka had already lost the series after the first two games, they managed to gain a total of 218 runs. New Zealand fought hard to achieve their highest successful chase in this format, thanks to quick runs from Rachin Ravindra and Daryl Mitchell, but ultimately fell short by seven runs.
New Zealand captain Mitchell Santner decided to change strategy by having Sri Lanka bat first after they had batted first in the previous two matches. His choice might have been influenced by overnight rain that had covered the pitch, resulting in a half-hour delay to start the game. Initially, the match was slow, but it came alive in the third over when Pathum Nissanka hit Matt Henry for a four and a six before top-edging a pull shot that was caught by wicketkeeper Mitchell Hay after a long run to the boundary.
Perera came to bat and got hit on the helmet with his first ball. After that, he really turned things around. Sri Lanka was at 49 for 2 after the PowerPlay and needed Perera, along with a struggling middle order, to take control during the middle overs. He started off well by hitting two boundaries off Michael Bracewell, with the second one benefiting from a dropped catch. Avishka Fernando then hit Bracewell for a four and a six, resulting in 25 runs in just two overs, which helped swing the match in Sri Lanka's favor.
A good review by Santner ended Fernando's innings at 17, but this brought Perera together with captain Asalanka, who had urged his middle order to improve after their previous losses. Following this encouragement, Asalanka took the lead by scoring a six and a four off Zakary Foulkes in a strong 17-run over. Perera then hit Glenn Phillips for a six over cow corner, reaching his half-century in just 27 balls.
The left-handed batsmen continued to dominate against spin bowling, with the 15th over bowled by Santner costing 22 runs. Asalanka hit two sixes off Santner, while Perera added a couple of fours, even surviving another dropped catch. In the next three overs, Sri Lanka scored 53 runs as Perera quickly went from 50 to 100 in just 14 balls. He became only the third Sri Lankan to score a T20I century, following Tillakaratne Dilshan and Mahela Jayawardene, by smashing three sixes in one over off Matt Henry. Asalanka scored 46 runs off 24 balls and played a key role in a 100-run partnership with Perera that came in just 45 balls. New Zealand managed to restrict Sri Lanka to 218 runs in the end, with Mitchell and Jacob Duffy conceding only six runs each in the final two overs.
New Zealand came out strong in their chase, with Tim Robinson and Rachin Ravindra putting on 81 runs for the first wicket in just 7.2 overs. Robinson was quick, scoring 36 runs at a strike-rate close to 200, and Ravindra caught up by hitting two sixes off Wanindu Hasaranga, getting a second chance later in the over when Bhanuka Rajapaksa dropped a catch.
The middle overs were crucial since Sri Lanka had done well against spin earlier. After Binura Fernando broke the opening partnership, Asalanka decided to bowl himself in the ninth over against two left-handers but was hit for a six by Mark Chapman. He bounced back when Chapman hit a catch to deep midwicket two balls later. Asalanka continued to perform, taking Glenn Phillips' wicket and then cleaning up Ravindra for 69 runs off 39 balls.
However, there were still changes in the game's momentum. After giving away only 25 runs in his first three overs, Asalanka was hit for another 25 runs in his last over as Mitchell hit four sixes, making the equation 51 runs needed from 30 balls, which put New Zealand in a strong position. But Hasaranga turned the game around for Sri Lanka by conceding just two runs in the 16th over while taking two key wickets, including wicketkeeper Hay. New Zealand received a significant setback when Mitchell got out in the next over by Nuwan Thushara. In the end, New Zealand needed 22 runs off the final over, which proved to be too much.
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