Watch cricket video highlights of Sri Lanka tour of New Zealand 2024. Second Twenty/20 between Sri Lanka and New Zealand. Venue of the match will be Mount Maunganui.
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New Zealand put on a far more team-centered display to win the second Twenty20 International easily and secure the series 2-0 after the previous one had been more of a smash-and-grab. It indicates that Sri Lanka will still have to wait a long time to win a series in New Zealand. Sri Lanka’s batting once again threatened for significant stretches before faltering towards the end after being given an intimidating score of 187. With a long tail in tow, the hosts needed considerably more than the three innings of substance that Pathum Nissanka (37).
Kusal Perera (48), and Charith Asalanka (20) contributed if they were to defeat a determined New Zealand team. Once again, Jacob Duffy led the charge, making sure that Tim Robinson, Mark Chapman, and Mitch Hay’s valiant efforts would not go unrewarded. Duffy had significant breakthroughs throughout Sri Lanka’s innings, and his 4 for 15 was by far the greatest bowling performance. Nevertheless, Hay’s 19-ball 41 earned him the player-of-the-match prize.
It was a knock that elevated New Zealand’s score from mediocre to above average and placed his team ahead of the game, a position they hardly seemed to want to give up after that. Duffy’s single-over triple-strike in the opening Twenty20 International signaled the collapse of Sri Lanka’s monument. Even while he wasn’t as explosive in the second game—this time, he distributed his scalps over all four of his overs—his influence was nevertheless rather noticeable.
Mitchell Santner also used Duffy well, putting him on for little bursts of one over apiece at first, then a crucial two-over surge at the end. The strategy was successful since he took a wicket off the opening ball of each of his next three overs after going wicketless in the first over. The opener’s frightening 38 off 27 was ended by Pathum Nissanka, who was the first to leave. Kusal Perera and Charith Asalanka then put up 31 off 20 before Perera fell for a 35-ball 48, bringing Duffy back in the middle of another dangerous partnership.
Wanindu Hasaranga was removed with a third first-ball strike, and Maheesh Theekshana was out two balls later, capping off another excellent day for Duffy. Although this loss was not nearly as severe as the previous game, Sri Lanka once again fooled to deceive with the bat, and their incapacity to end an innings strongly will raise concerns. They were bowled out for 141 at the beginning of the 20th over, after having once again established a strong foundation at 72 for 2 at the midway point.
And their incapacity to score runs fast enough may be one of their main worries. In sharp contrast to New Zealand, where three batters, including Hay, hit at a rate above 140, even the batters who scored runs were unable to reach 140. Additionally, New Zealand’s running between the wickets could use some improvement, as they hit 14 twos while Sri Lanka only managed five. Only three of the first ten overs, after being asked to bat first again, ended without a boundary, and five of those overs had at least 10 runs.
This meant that other bowlers were not given a chance to settle, and even Sri Lanka’s best bowlers of the day were never able to generate any kind of coordinated pressure. This was largely due to Robinson and Chapman’s calculated purpose, as both hitters were at ease utilizing their feet to move Sri Lanka’s bowlers off their lengths. Targeted in particular was Theekshana, who often ranks among Sri Lanka’s most frugal bowlers and took 20 off his opening two before being removed from the attack.
Chapman twice came down the track to dismiss Matheesha Pathirana, the express, first over the covers and then with a hammering over deep midwicket. More significantly, New Zealand ran hard between the wickets, always looking for ways to convert singles into doubles. As a result, even though Binura Fernando, Hasaranga, and Nuwan Thushara had never appeared to be under any kind of strain, New Zealand managed to score 86 runs before the midway mark.
Even though New Zealand got off to a fast start, Sri Lanka may have been satisfied with the way the match played out by the eighteenth over. With three wickets and sixty-six runs in the eight overs since the tenth, there was a real chance that New Zealand would not even reach their first-game total of 172. If not for Hay, it may have also been the case. He had scored three runs and two ducks in his first three Twenty20 Internationals, all against Sri Lanka. Here, however, Hay made his international debut against two of Sri Lanka’s most cunning spinners.
Hay blasted 41 runs, including four fours and two sixes, in a 19-ball cameo, more than tripling the total amount of deliveries he has encountered in his three prior T20Is combined. After initially waiting, taking 12 off 9, he clattered 29 off his subsequent 10. With two spectacular smashes down the ground as the high point of an 18-run penultimate over, Theekshana was the first to receive the treatment. After that, Hay focused on Binura, Sri Lanka’s most economical bowler to date. He cleverly dismissed him for two boundaries, including a bold scoop, to guarantee 34 runs off the last two overs and 100 from the last ten.
