AGENCY
Wellington, Jan 8
New Zealand strode to 255 for 9 in their 37 overs, with a 112-run second wicket stand between Rachin Ravindra and Mark Chapman the bedrock of that innings. And then Sri Lanka’s top order crashed and burned again. They were 4 for 22 inside the first five overs, their hopes of levelling the series almost completely dashed.
Kamindu Mendis attempted to revive the innings, but his 64 was not nearly enough to revive this innings. Sri Lanka slipped to a 113-run defeat, having also lost heavily to New Zealand in the first ODI. New Zealand take the series despite being significantly depleted by absences and injuries. Sri Lanka are essentially at full strength, but the failure of their top five continues to dog them, even in a rain-reduced match such as this.
New Zealand had some stutters too. They were modest at the death, as Maheesh Theekshana in particular was effective, taking a hat-trick across his last two overs, as New Zealand mustered no more than 63 in the last 10 overs, losing five wickets in that period. But they did not stumble so spectacularly as to undo the work of the Ravindra-Chapman stand. They had contributions through the middle, with Daryl Mitchell, Glenn Phillips, and Mitchell Santner chipping in.
Maheesh Theekshana became the seventh Sri Lanka bowler to bag an ODI hat-trick, New Zealand vs Sri Lanka, 2nd T20I, Hamilton, January 8, 2025
And then they had their confident seam bowlers, who imposed themselves even with the older ball. Will O’Rourke took 3 for 31, Jacob Duffy 2 for 30, while Matt Henry and Nathan Smith claimed a wicket apiece. The only semblance of a partnership had been between Kamindu and Janith Liyanage, as the pair put on 57 together for the fifth wicket. Outside of that, New Zealand were picking their way through the batting order, and ultimately had them all out inside 31 overs.
Sri Lanka’s required rate was 6.92 right from the beginning. Although this seems a monumental challenge, the pitch was good to bat on, and with rain having delayed the start of play by two-and-a-half hours, a damp ball was also proving a challenge for some bowlers.
But Sri Lanka needed a strong start to put some wind in the sails of this chase, and what they got instead was a collapse.
Pathum Nissanka holed out to mid-off in the second over, badly miscuing a lofted drive against Duffy. Kusal Mendis then edged behind in Duffy’s next over, before Avishka Fernando slapped a ball from Henry straight to point immediately after. Captain Charith Asalanka’s horrendous judging of a run extended Sri Lanka’s nosedive. He’d blocked one towards Mitchell Santner at mid-off and called his partner through. Santner swooped in the ball, hit the stumps with an under-arm throw, and caught Asalanka metres short. Kamindu had been out in very similar fashion, taking on the same fielder, only on Sunday.
Captain vs captain: Mitchell Santner ran out Charith Asalanka, New Zealand vs Sri Lanka, 2nd T20I, Hamilton, January 8, 2025
At Asalanka’s dismissal, Sri Lanka still had 234 runs to get off 194 deliveries, and only two specialist batters and two allrounders left to do it with. They didn’t get especially far.
Contrast this to New Zealand’s top order, who put their team in a powerful position inside the first 22 overs, with Ravindra stroking 79 off 63 and Chapman hitting 62 off 52.
Chapman meanwhile, was decidedly stronger on the legside, scoring 46 off his 63 runs in that direction. He hit two sixes – one top edged over the keeper, and another over midwicket off a short ball from Eshan Malinga to bring up his fifty off 44 balls as well as the century partnership.
