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Sri Lanka vs New Zealand, 1st T20I

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Sri Lanka won by 4 wkts

NZ

135(19.3)

SL

140/6(19)

PLAYER OF THE MATCH

charith-asalanka

Charith Asalanka

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Fantasy Handbook: SL v NZ, 1st T20I, 2024

Finally, the high-flying New Zealand have tasted a loss. Sri Lanka, however, continue their recent-fine record at home. Both teams have got less then 24 hours to recover though. The second and final T20I will be played at the same venue, same time. Can the visitors turn things around to level the series? Sri Lanka to seal it 2-0? Do remember to catch us tomorrow for all the entertainemt. Cheers!!

Charith Asalanka | Player of the Match, Sri Lanka skipper: The plan was to bat till the end. I thought Wanindu and Wellalage batted well in the end. We could have bowled them out to less than 15-20 than what they did, but it was a good job from our bowlers. As a team, all the guys play spin very well and they always take the right option. As a captain, happy with the form and want to continue doing well for my team.

Mitchell Santner | New Zealand skipper: We did pretty well to get to 130, credit to the way Sri Lankan spinners bowled. We were thinking maybe 150-160 at the start. Always a privilege to captain your country, it is an exciting young group and we got a lot of ODIS and T20Is coming up and we will take our learnings tonight and look to enjoy every moment.

Kusal Perera - We all knew that the wicket was doing something for the spinners. 135 wasn't a par score, but we needed to do well as a batting group. When the ball was new, it was gripping for the spinners, we had to take some risks to gain momentum, after the powerplay, we concentrated on ones and twos. My go to shot is the sweep, that's what I do to put pressure on the bowlers. Thanks for the news (on being told that he went past Dilshan's numbers to become Sri Lanka's highest run-scorer in T20Is), glad to break it. I've worked hard on my game and am looking forward to contributing more for the team.

22:25 local, 16:55 GMT, 22:25 IST: Not enough runs on the board for New Zealand. They managed 11 boundaries with the bat, while Sri Lanka slammed 11 in the first 10 overs of the chase. Despite losing both openers in the powerplay, the hosts found momentum through Kusal Perera and Kamindu Mendis. Both Kusal Perera and Kamindu Mendis took the aggressive option more often than not and never allowed the momentum to slip away. There was a little stutter after the 10th over mark as Sri Lanka lost a couple of wickets in quick succession. It was after the fifth (Rajapaksa) wicket, Sri Lanka decided to play it safe and built a 38-run valuable stand for the sixth wicket. Skipper Asalanka made sure he was there till the end and fittingly, it was the best bowler on show - Dunith Wellalage - who put the icing on the cake with a couple of boundaries in the end. Stick around for the post-match reactions...

19

1 0 0 4 0 6 (11 runs)

SL 140-6

Dunith Wellalage

11(7)

Charith Asalanka

35(28)

Jacob Duffy

4-0-29-0

18.6

6

Jacob Duffy to Wellalage, SIX, smoked into the mid-wicket orbit. The short ball has been dispatched with disdain as Sri Lanka win by 4 wickets to take a 1-0 lead

18.5

Jacob Duffy to Wellalage, no run, 142ks lifter outside off, Wellalage tries to slap it square on the off-side and gets beaten due to extra bounce

18.4

4

Jacob Duffy to Wellalage, FOUR, crunched! 137ks full pitcher outside off, Wellalage connects the drive sweetly and beats the diving effort of mid-off to his right

18.3

Jacob Duffy to Wellalage, no run, slower length delivery outside off, Wellalage looks to force it down the ground and gets beaten due to lack of pace

18.2

Jacob Duffy to Wellalage, no run, goes short outside off at 136ks, Wellalage looks to flay it over backward point and gets beaten on the top-edge

18.1

Jacob Duffy to Asalanka, 1 run, 140ks full and wide of off, Asalanka looks to slog it over mid-wicket and gets a thick outside edge to the right of Sodhi at third man

Serilanka