The 8th match of cricket at the Commonwealth Games between New Zealand and Sri Lanka saw the White Ferns fail to top a good start in the middle over but thankfully late runs from Lea Tahuhu helped them get to a competitive total that Sri Lanka in reply fell way short off and New Zealand with back-to-back wins have joined England in advancing to the knockouts.
New Zealand having won the toss opt to bat first and nearly hit their desired script as the opening pair of Sophie Devine and Suzie Bates again provided New Zealand with a good start as fairly good damage from both ends had New Zealand end powerplay overs on a strong 41-0.
Inoka Ranaweera was introduced just after the powerplay and created an instant impact by dismissing Sophie Devine on 24(23). Inoka wasting no time had her 2nd in her 2nd over dismissing Amelia Kerr on 7(7) and a good restriction on the flow of runs saw New Zealand get to 64-2 at halfway mark. New Zealand finally had a good 11 run over off Sugandika Kumari’s bowling, but what followed was Oshadi Ranasinghe’s reintroduction that saw her have a double strike dismissing Maddy Green and Suzie Bates in the same over on scores of 9(8) and 34(32) respectively. Hayley Jensen too departed early on 3(3) as Kavisha Dilhari struck and New Zealand were reduced to 98-5 at the end of 15. Brooke Halliday on one end was struggling but had a couple of welcome boundaries come her way and Izzy Gaze on the other end was also scoring runs at a good pace. Inoka was on for her final over and struck Halliday on 22(23) and off the last ball of the over a run-out had Gaze walk back on 16(14). Just in time Lea Tahuhu stepped up for Kiwis and scored a quick 8-ball-20 which helped New Zealand post a competitive 147 on the board with Tahuhu and Rowe unbeaten on scores of 20(8) and 4(3) respectively. For Sri Lanka, Inoka Ranaweera with 3 topped the wickets chart which had Oshadi Ranasinghe with 2 and Kavisha Dilhari with one to her name follow.
Sri Lanka in reply chasing 147 had the worst possible start by losing skipper, Chamari Athapaththu on a 4-ball-duck off Hayley Jensen’s bowling. Sri Lanka in the 5th over got their first boundary, but Rowe in the same over struck for New Zealand bagging the wicket of Vishmi Gunaratne on 3(9) and Lea Tahuhu closed the powerplay overs well with Sri Lanka’s score on 18-2. Lea Tahuhu recorded brilliant powerplay figures of 3-0-8-0. Jensen’s reintroduction immediately after the powerplay overs saw her dismiss Hasini Perera on 8(19). Nilakshi de Silva looked to hold an end, but wickets continued to fall on the other as Rosemary in her first over struck Harshitha Madavi on 5(8), then Eden Carson in her first struck Kavisha Dilhari lbw on 4(5) and Sri Lanka at halfway mark were 35-5. The pair of Ama Kanchana and de Silva gathered a few runs including a 12-run over before Carson struck again and dismissed Ama Kanchana on 8(11). Nilakshi de Silva continued to get impressive on an end but fell short of partners on the other as Jensen bowled Anushka Sanjeewani on 2(4). Just when Oshadi Ranasinghe got going with a couple of boundaries, Amelia Kerr bowling her final 4th over dismissed Nilakshi de Silva on a good 36(35). Oshadi Ranasinghe on 18*(21) and Sugandika Kumari 5*(6) with a partnership of 18*(17) had Sri Lanka finish on 102-8 falling 45 short of the required. For New Zealand, Hayley Jensen with 3 topped the wickets chart which had Eden Carson with a couple, Hannah Rowe, Rosemary Mair and Amelia Kerr with one each follow.
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