AGL 40.00 Decreased By ▼ -0.01 (-0.02%)
AIRLINK 127.00 Decreased By ▼ -0.99 (-0.77%)
BOP 6.68 Increased By ▲ 0.08 (1.21%)
CNERGY 4.49 Decreased By ▼ -0.11 (-2.39%)
DCL 8.60 Increased By ▲ 0.12 (1.42%)
DFML 41.30 Decreased By ▼ -0.18 (-0.43%)
DGKC 86.71 Increased By ▲ 0.13 (0.15%)
FCCL 32.16 Increased By ▲ 0.02 (0.06%)
FFBL 64.70 Decreased By ▼ -0.72 (-1.1%)
FFL 10.29 Increased By ▲ 0.04 (0.39%)
HUBC 109.51 Decreased By ▼ -0.98 (-0.89%)
HUMNL 14.90 Increased By ▲ 0.15 (1.02%)
KEL 5.05 Decreased By ▼ -0.08 (-1.56%)
KOSM 7.40 Increased By ▲ 0.28 (3.93%)
MLCF 41.39 Decreased By ▼ -0.26 (-0.62%)
NBP 60.60 Increased By ▲ 0.51 (0.85%)
OGDC 190.00 Decreased By ▼ -4.69 (-2.41%)
PAEL 27.81 Decreased By ▼ -0.14 (-0.5%)
PIBTL 7.75 Decreased By ▼ -0.25 (-3.13%)
PPL 149.75 Decreased By ▼ -1.42 (-0.94%)
PRL 26.73 Decreased By ▼ -0.15 (-0.56%)
PTC 16.18 Increased By ▲ 0.18 (1.13%)
SEARL 86.02 Increased By ▲ 7.82 (10%)
TELE 7.72 Increased By ▲ 0.33 (4.47%)
TOMCL 35.58 Decreased By ▼ -0.09 (-0.25%)
TPLP 8.14 Increased By ▲ 0.23 (2.91%)
TREET 16.51 Increased By ▲ 0.62 (3.9%)
TRG 53.35 Increased By ▲ 0.59 (1.12%)
UNITY 26.28 Decreased By ▼ -0.27 (-1.02%)
WTL 1.26 Decreased By ▼ -0.01 (-0.79%)
BR100 9,889 Decreased By -31.1 (-0.31%)
BR30 30,611 Decreased By -140.9 (-0.46%)
KSE100 93,355 Increased By 130.9 (0.14%)
KSE30 28,931 Increased By 46 (0.16%)

DAMBULLA: A captain’s knock by Charith Asalanka steered Sri Lanka to a hard-fought four-wicket victory over New Zealand with six balls to spare in Saturday’s Twenty20 opener in Dambulla.

Chasing a modest 136 to win, Sri Lanka’s batsman struggled to capitalise against the second-string visiting team.

But a crucial 38-run stand for the sixth wicket between Asalanka and Wanindu Hasaranga steadied the ship and inched the team to victory.

“Overall it is a good win,” Asalanka said.

“We should have restricted them to 110 or 120 but they did well with the lower order.”

The stand was broken when Hasaranga went for a big shot off Zakary Foulkes but fell short, caught at mid-on by Kiwi captain Mitchell Santner and departing for 22.

Left-arm spinner Dunith Wellalage, who took three of New Zealand’s wickets after the tourists opted to bat, sealed Sri Lanka’s win in style when he pulled Jacob Duffy for a six over mid-wicket.

Frustrated New Zealand, confident Sri Lanka meet in two-Test series

Asalanka finished unbeaten on a well-judged 35 off 28 balls.

New Zealand’s below-par total had given Sri Lanka some breathing room.

Top-order batsman Kusal Perera etched his name in the record books, surpassing Tillakaratne Dilshan to become Sri Lanka’s highest run-scorer in T20s with his quickfire 23 off 17 balls.

New Zealand’s 135 all out was the third-lowest total in T20Is in Dambulla.

“It is a challenge to adjust to conditions,” Santner said.

“At halfway we felt that we can defend it but a couple of partnerships took it away from us.”

“We were expecting 160 after winning the toss but the dew settled in and it was hard to hold the ball and that’s probably food for thought tomorrow.”

Fresh from a commanding red-ball series win in India, the tourists arrived in the island nation missing Tom Blundell, Rachin Ravindra and other stalwarts who are resting for an upcoming Test battle against England.

All-rounder Michael Bracewell showed some fight with 27 off 24, including two fours and a six.

New Zealand managed to go past 100 after a gutsy 39-run stand for the ninth wicket between Ish Sodhi and Foulkes.

Foulkes, joint top-scorer with 27 off 16, hit a four and a six to help the Kiwis salvage some pride before Sodhi’s departure on 10 in the final over.

New Zealand handed a debut to wicketkeeper-batsman Mitchell Hay, who was caught off a Matheesha Pathirana delivery on his second ball for nought.

The second and final match of the series is at the same venue on Sunday.

Comments

200 characters