Watch cricket video highlights of Sri Lanka tour of New Zealand 2024. Third ODI between Sri Lanka and New Zealand. Venue of the match will be Auckland.
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Asitha Fernando’s brilliant new-ball performance destroyed New Zealand’s chase after quick half-centuries from Kusal Mendis, Pathum Nissanka, and Janith Liyanage set Sri Lanka on track to a sizable total. During his initial five-over burst, Asitha took 3 for 17 with a brilliant swing of the ball. New Zealand was 22 for 5 at the conclusion of over seven, with 291 needed to win, their hopes all but gone. Despite having no teammates to accompany him, Mark Chapman fought valiantly for a run-a-ball of 81. Soon after, New Zealand fell to 48 for 6 and then 77 for 7.
Although the final ceremonies took a while, Sri Lanka was able to dismiss the opposition for 150 in 30 overs. This was the series’ third one-sided match. The other two had gone to New Zealand. Asitha struggled with his lines at times, so his 3 for 26 wasn’t exactly a swing-bowling masterclass. However, he gained a lot more swing than any other bowler in the game, so there were some amazing deliveries. Asitha angled the ball over the left-hander and got it to tail in very late to slide between bat and pad, and it was a brilliant delivery that removed Rachin Ravindra’s leg stump.
He had that form to his deliveries during the new-ball phase. In the eighth over, he removed Glenn Phillips and Tom Latham for ducks with two of his strikes. Will Young and Daryl Mitchell were removed by Maheesh Theekshana and Eshan Malinga, who also provided wickets at the other end. In the end, each of these three bowlers claimed three wickets. Of their final numbers, Asitha’s was the best. Malinga bowled probing lines and swung the ball, but not as much as Asitha.
Earlier in the game, when the New Zealand spinners were picking their way through Sri Lanka’s middle order, they had also relished the pitch that Theekshana got out of. Despite this, Matt Henry was still the most effective, taking 4 for 55 in his 10 overs. Henry had played a key role in increasing pressure through the middle overs as well, but three of those wickets came at the end. However, Nissanka and Kusal’s fifties were the initial components of Sri Lanka’s 140-run triumph.
Nissanka’s score of 66 off 42 was remarkable. After reaching 50 off the 31st delivery he played, he seemed to strain a hamstring during that run and departed the field at the end of the tenth over. In order to salvage what had otherwise been a modest trip for him, Kusal then took his position at the bat and ripped off 54 off 48. In particular, Nissanka loved playing short ball. Despite his inability to run or reach too far outside off, he returned to the middle in the 34th over to swing at a handful of the five sixes and six fours he hit in his innings.
Kusal made all of his runs after the first fielding limitations were lifted, hitting five fours and two sixes. Mitchell Santner’s wide, twisting deliveries, which they attempted to drag over the deep-midwicket boundary, removed both hitters. One of the main designers of Sri Lanka’s middle-overs slump had been Santner. After 27 overs, they were 155 for 1 (Nissanka had also withdrawn due to injury), but they lost three wickets and scored just 28 in the next seven overs.
They rallied for a half-century against Liyanage, who put up a brilliant innings that managed the tail and lower-middle order. Liyanage fell in the last over after scoring 53 from 52 balls. He mostly aimed to drive the game deep and make sure Sri Lanka batted out their 50 overs, although he did smash five boundaries, including two sixes. Asitha bowled one of his career’s white-ball stretches, though, and New Zealand had no replies.
After the powerplay ended, Chapman regained his confidence and found the boundary with the same ease that Nissanka and Kusal had previously displayed. He struck all but two of his 10 fours on the off side of the ground, demonstrating his exceptional strength through that area. However, they never seemed to be a threat to the objective because of that early breakdown.
