Three quick fifties and Asitha’s electric new-ball spell give Sri Lanka consolation win
Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Mendis and Janith Liyanage’s fifties KAMINDU 46 gave Sri Lanka 290, and the bowlers then stopped New Zealand 140 runs short
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Asitha Fernando’s booming inswinger beat Rachin Ravindra’s drive and smashed the stumps, New Zealand vs Sri Lanka, 3rd ODI, Auckland, January 11, 2025
Sri Lanka 290 for 8 (Nissanka 66, Kusal 54, Liyanage 53, Henry 4-55, Santner 2-55) beat New Zealand 150 (Chapman 81, Asitha 3-26, Malinga 3-35, Theekshana 3-35) by 140 runs
Rapid half-centuries from Kusal Mendis, Pathum Nissanka and Janith Liyanage put Sri Lanka on course to a substantial total, before an electric new-ball spell from Asitha Fernando wrecked New Zealand’s chase.
Asitha swung the ball prodigiously in his five-over opening spell, taking 3 for 17 in that period. By the end of over seven, and chasing 291 for victory, New Zealand were 22 for 5, their chances all but dashed. Mark Chapman battled bravely for a run-a-ball 81, but had no team-mates to go with him.
New Zealand soon slipped to 48 for 6, then 77 for 7, and though the last rites took some time, Sri Lanka dismissed the opposition for 150, inside 30 overs. This was the third one-sided game in the series. New Zealand had won the other two.
Asitha’s 3 for 26 wasn’t quite a swing-bowling masterclass, as he occasionally struggled with his lines. But it did feature some spectacular deliveries, as he gleaned substantially more swing than any other bowler in the game. The ball to take out Rachin Ravindra’s leg stump was magnificent; Asitha angled it across the left-hander, and got it to tail in very late to slip between bat and pad. All through that new-ball spell, he had that shape to his deliveries. He struck twice in the seventh over, removing Tom Latham and Glenn Phillips, both for ducks.
At the other end, Maheesh Theekshana and Eshan Malinga also contributed wickets, dismissing Will Young and Daryl Mitchell respectively. All three of these bowlers ended up taking three wickets apiece. Asitha’s was the best among their final figures.
Malinga also swung the ball, though not as much as Asitha, and bowled probing lines. Theekshana got turn out of a pitch that the New Zealand spinners had also enjoyed earlier in the match, particularly when they picked their way through Sri Lanka’s middle order. Though it was still Matt Henry who was most penetrative, taking 4 for 55 from his ten overs. Three of those wickets came at the death, but Henry had been instrumental in building pressure through the middle overs too.
The first ingredients of Sri Lanka’s 140-run victory, however, were the fifties to Nissanka and Kusal. Nissanka’s 66 off 42 was unusual. He got to 50 off the 31st delivery he played, but as he was completing that run, appeared to pull a hamstring, and left the field at the end of the tenth over. Kusal then replaced him at the crease and reeled off 54 off 48 to salvage what has otherwise been a modest tour for him.
Nissanka, especially, reveled in taking on the short ball. He crashed five sixes and six fours in his innings, coming back to the middle in the 34th over to swing at a few though he was unable to run or reach particularly far outside off. Kusal hit two sixes and five fours, having made all his runs after the initial fielding restrictions had ended.
Matt Henry took all of his four wickets in the back-half of Sri Lanka’s innings, New Zealand vs Sri Lanka, 3rd ODI, Auckland, January 11, 2025
Both batters were dismissed by wide, turning Mitchell Santner deliveries, that they were trying to drag over the deep-midwicket boundary.
Santner had been among the primary architects of Sri Lanka’s middle-overs slowdown. They had been 155 for 1 (Nissanka was retired hurt also) after 27 overs, but in the following seven overs lost three wickets and made only 28. They recovered through a half-century to Liyanage, who constructed a clever innings that shepherded the lower-middle order and the tail. Liyanage made 53 off 52 balls before falling in the final over. He had hit five boundaries – two of them sixes – but largely sought to push the game deep and ensure Sri Lanka batted out their 50 overs.
But New Zealand had no answers to Asitha bowling one of the white-ball spells of his career. Chapman saw out that new-ball spell, and then gained confidence once the powerplay was over, finding the boundary with the kind of ease that Nissanka and Kusal earlier had. He was especially strong through the off side, hitting all but two of his ten fours on that side of the ground.
But thanks to that early collapse, they never looked like threatening the target.
Sri Lanka (50 ovs maximum) Toos won by SL
Batting R B M 4s 6s SR
Pathum Nissanka
c Smith b Santner
66 42 58 6 5 157.14
Avishka Fernando
c Chapman b Smith
17 33 50 2 0 51.51
Kusal Mendis †
c Bracewell b Santner
54 48 69 5 2 112.50
Kamindu Mendis
c †Latham b Henry
46 71 89 2 3 64.78
Charith Asalanka (c)
c Henry b Bracewell
0 5 7 0 0 0.00
Janith Liyanage
c Phillips b Henry
53 52 84 3 2 101.92
Chamidu Wickramasinghe
c Smith b Henry
19 31 32 0 1 61.29
Wanindu Hasaranga
b Henry
15 9 11 0 2 166.66
Maheesh Theekshana
not out 11 8 11 2 0 137.50
Eshan Malinga
not out 1 1 2 0 0 100.00
Extras (lb 4, w 4) 8
Total
50 Ov
(RR: 5.80, 211 Mins)
290/8
Did not bat:
Asitha Fernando
Fall of wickets: 0-66* (Pathum Nissanka, retired not out), 1-69 (Avishka Fernando, 11.1 ov), 2-156 (Kusal Mendis, 27.3 ov), 3-160 (Charith Asalanka, 29.2 ov), 4-183 (Kamindu Mendis, 33.5 ov), 5-204 (Pathum Nissanka, 36.5 ov), 6-248 (Chamidu Wickramasinghe, 45.1 ov), 7-272 (Wanindu Hasaranga, 47.4 ov), 8-285 (Janith Liyanage, 49.3 ov) •
DRS
Bowling O M R W ECON 0s 4s 6s WD NB
Matt Henry
10 0 55
4
5.50 36 5 3 0 0
Will O’Rourke
10 0 57 0 5.70 34 3 3 2 0
Nathan Smith
8 0 62
1
7.75 22 5 4 0 0
Mitchell Santner
10 0 55
2
5.50 32 1 4 2 0
Michael Bracewell
9 0 45
1
5.00 27 4 1 0 0
Glenn Phillips
3 0 12 0 4.00 12 2 0 0 0
New Zealand (T: 291 runs from 50 ovs)
Batting R B M 4s 6s SR
Will Young
c WIA Fernando b Theekshana
0 8 9 0 0 0.00
Rachin Ravindra
b AM Fernando
1 5 14 0 0 20.00
Mark Chapman
b Theekshana
81 81 143 10 1 100.00
Daryl Mitchell
c sub (MNK Fernando) b Malinga
2 5 16 0 0 40.00
Tom Latham †
c Hasaranga b AM Fernando
0 4 5 0 0 0.00
Glenn Phillips
c PHKD Mendis b AM Fernando
0 3 2 0 0 0.00
Michael Bracewell
c PHKD Mendis b Liyanage
13 20 30 1 1 65.00
Mitchell Santner (c)
c †BKG Mendis b Theekshana
2 15 20 0 0 13.33
Nathan Smith
c †BKG Mendis b Malinga
17 29 41 1 0 58.62
Matt Henry
b Malinga
12 6 11 1 1 200.00
Will O’Rourke
not out 1 3 6 0 0 33.33
Extras (lb 2, nb 1, w 18) 21
Total
29.4 Ov
(RR: 5.05, 153 Mins)
150
Fall of wickets: 1-3 (Will Young, 1.4 ov), 2-4 (Rachin Ravindra, 2.2 ov), 3-20 (Daryl Mitchell, 5.3 ov), 4-21 (Tom Latham, 6.2 ov), 5-21 (Glenn Phillips, 6.5 ov), 6-48 (Michael Bracewell, 12.6 ov), 7-77 (Mitchell Santner, 17.1 ov), 8-128 (Nathan Smith, 26.1 ov), 9-143 (Matt Henry, 28.2 ov), 10-150 (Mark Chapman, 29.4 ov) •
DRS
Bowling O M R W ECON 0s 4s 6s WD NB
Asitha Fernando
7 0 26
3
3.71 31 1 1 6 0
Maheesh Theekshana
7.4 0 35
3
4.56 31 3 0 3 1
Eshan Malinga
7 1 35
3
5.00 27 3 1 4 0
Janith Liyanage
3 0 16
1
5.33 9 2 0 0 0
Chamidu Wickramasinghe
3 0 14 0 4.66 10 2 0 0 0
Wanindu Hasaranga
2 0 22 0 11.00 3 2 1 1 0
