Asalanka, bowlers help SL brush NZ aside for 1-0 lead
Sri Lanka’s spinners claimed six wickets between them to skittle New Zealand for 135
Sri Lanka 140 for 6 (Asalanka 35*, Foulkes 3-20) beat New Zealand 135 (Foulkes 27*, Wellalage 3-20, Thusara 2-14) by four wickets
On a turning Dambulla track, Sri Lanka’s spinners claimed six wickets between them, kept a leash on the scoring rate, and restricted New Zealand to 135 all out. It should have been a straightforward chase, even despite the conditions. But it needed a cool head, which is what captain Charith Asalanka provided with his 35 not out off 28.
Sri Lanka got home with six balls to spare, and four wickets in hand, although the result was never super tense. New Zealand, remember, are trying out some young players at the very tail end of their long South-Asian spring.
New Zealand slide in the powerplay
The first six overs kind of set the tone for the whole thing. The ball was almost immediately turning square, as even Maheesh Theekshana – a modest turner of the ball usually – ripped it big in the first over of the innings.
Theekshana would only strike off the last ball of the innings, getting Will Young lbw for a run-a-ball 19. But before that, Dunith Wellalage nailed Tim Robinson in front with an arm ball, and Nuwan Thushara had Mark Chapman flick a slower ball to deep square leg.
All up, it was outstanding slow-pitch bowling from Sri Lanka. New Zealand were down at 31 for 3 when the fielding restrictions eased. They’d go on to control the middle overs too – New Zealand only made 66 off the next ten overs, and lost five further wickets.
Kamindu and Kusal Perera set the chase up
Kusal Perera helped propel Sri Lanka through the powerplay, hitting 22 off 15 while the fielding restrictions were on, though his team lost Pathum Nissanka and Kusal Mendis through this period.
And because this is a Sri Lanka victory of this age, Kamindu Mendis has to have a hand in it too. He made 23 off 16, mostly after the powerplay ended.
After seeing what New Zealand did in the Tests in India, you can never be too sure they don’t have something special up their sleeves. Asalanka made sure that although Sri Lanka kept losing wickets, he was on hand to see the victory through, hitting two sixes off his first 11 balls to start, before toning it down and knocking it around as Sri Lanka knocked off the remaining runs.
Foulkes rocks Sri Lanka
In only his third international, bowling allrounder Zakary Foulkes brought all his skills to bear. First he cracked 27 not out off 16 to raise New Zealand from an embarrassing total to merely a modest one. With the ball, he bowled Nissanka with a fullish delivery, bounced Bhanuka Rajapaksa, then, had Wanindu Hasaranga holing out to collect figures of 3 for 20.
Asalanka on SL’s form: ‘Goal is to climb to top three in the rankings’
Captain wants the team to be as good as Sri Lanka had been before 2014
Asalanka on SL’s form: ‘Goal is to climb to top three in the rankings’
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How will a new-look New Zealand shape up in these conditions? And will Sri Lanka continue using spin at the expense of some terrific seam talent?
New Zealand (20 ovs maximum)
Batting R B M 4s 6s SR
Tim Robinson
b Wellalage
3 6 13 0 0 50.00
Will Young
lbw b Theekshana
19 19 31 1 1 100.00
Mark Chapman
c Hasaranga b Thushara
1 6 7 0 0 16.66
Glenn Phillips
lbw b Hasaranga
13 13 22 1 0 100.00
Michael Bracewell
c PHKD Mendis b Thushara
27 24 41 2 1 112.50
Mitchell Hay †
c †BKG Mendis b Pathirana
0 2 5 0 0 0.00
Josh Clarkson
c PHKD Mendis b Pathirana
3 6 9 0 0 50.00
Mitchell Santner (c)
st †BKG Mendis b Hasaranga
16 16 18 2 0 100.00
Zakary Foulkes
not out 27 16 22 1 1 168.75
Ish Sodhi
c Asalanka b Wellalage
10 9 14 1 0 111.11
Jacob Duffy
c †BKG Mendis b Wellalage
0 1 1 0 0 0.00
Extras (b 4, lb 6, nb 1, w 5) 16
Total
19.3 Ov
(RR: 6.92)
135
Fall of wickets: 1-16 (Tim Robinson, 2.2 ov), 2-20 (Mark Chapman, 3.5 ov), 3-31 (Will Young, 5.6 ov), 4-53 (Glenn Phillips, 8.5 ov), 5-59 (Mitchell Hay, 9.5 ov), 6-67 (Josh Clarkson, 11.4 ov), 7-86 (Michael Bracewell, 14.4 ov), 8-96 (Mitchell Santner, 15.4 ov), 9-135 (Ish Sodhi, 19.2 ov), 10-135 (Jacob Duffy, 19.3 ov) •
DRS
Bowling O M R W ECON 0s 4s 6s WD NB
Maheesh Theekshana
4 0 21
1
5.25 9 1 0 0 0
Nuwan Thushara
3 0 14
2
4.66 7 0 0 1 0
Dunith Wellalage
3.3 0 20
3
5.71 11 1 1 0 0
Wanindu Hasaranga
4 0 20
2
5.00 12 2 0 0 0
Charith Asalanka
2 0 25 0 12.50 1 2 1 0 0
Matheesha Pathirana
3 0 25
2
8.33 11 2 1 4 1
Sri Lanka (T: 136 runs from 20 ovs)
Batting R B M 4s 6s SR
Pathum Nissanka
b Foulkes
19 14 24 2 1 135.71
Kusal Mendis †
lbw b Santner
0 5 8 0 0 0.00
Kusal Perera
lbw b Bracewell
23 17 22 2 1 135.29
Kamindu Mendis
c Sodhi b Phillips
23 16 21 4 0 143.75
Charith Asalanka (c)
not out 35 28 59 1 2 125.00
Bhanuka Rajapaksa
c †Hay b Foulkes
4 4 4 1 0 100.00
Wanindu Hasaranga
c Santner b Foulkes
22 23 30 3 0 95.65
Dunith Wellalage
not out 11 7 7 1 1 157.14
Extras (lb 1, w 2) 3
Total
19 Ov
(RR: 7.36)
140/6
Did not bat:
Maheesh Theekshana,
Matheesha Pathirana,
Nuwan Thushara
Fall of wickets: 1-3 (Kusal Mendis, 1.5 ov), 2-43 (Pathum Nissanka, 5.3 ov), 3-55 (Kusal Perera, 6.6 ov), 4-82 (Kamindu Mendis, 10.4 ov), 5-87 (Bhanuka Rajapaksa, 11.3 ov), 6-125 (Wanindu Hasaranga, 17.2 ov) •
DRS
Bowling O M R W ECON 0s 4s 6s WD NB
Jacob Duffy
4 0 29 0 7.25 11 3 1 1 0
Mitchell Santner
4 0 30
1
7.50 10 2 1 0 0
Michael Bracewell
4 0 31
1
7.75 13 3 2 0 0
Zakary Foulkes
3 0 20
3
6.66 9 3 0 1 0
Ish Sodhi
2 0 17 0 8.50 4 1 1 0 0
Glenn Phillips
2 0 12
1
6.00 6 2 0 0 0
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