Even players like Mitchell Santner and Glenn Phillips could not lead New Zealand to victory.Image credit source: AFP
The New Zealand cricket team has been making headlines ever since it arrived in India and suffered a historic 3-0 defeat to Team India in the Test series. After all, defeating Team India on their own turf is no easy task and New Zealand swept it. But just a week after this victory, the New Zealand team itself faced defeat. After the victory in India, the New Zealand team went on tour to Sri Lanka and here it started with a defeat. However, they got this defeat in T20 format. In the first match of the T20 series, Sri Lanka easily defeated New Zealand by 4 wickets to take a 1-0 lead in the series.
After defeating the Indian team in the test series, the New Zealand team again returned to Sri Lanka where they had come for the test series before the tour of India and lost 0-2. This time the match is T20 series, but many players from the team that defeated India are not part of this series and some new players have got a place. In such a situation, there was a chance that there would be a difference in the performance of the Kiwi team and that is what happened. The team seemed out of breath in both batting and bowling and Sri Lanka registered the victory.
The Kiwis’ batting failed against full bowling.
In the first T20 match played in Dambulla on Saturday, November 9, the challenge of the batsmen to score runs was clearly visible. New Zealand, captained by Mitchell Santner, batted first but against Sri Lanka’s bowling, the entire team collapsed for just 135 runs in 19.3 overs. Meanwhile, 22-year-old bowler Zakari Fox, playing only his third T20 International match, showed his strength with the bat and, coming in at number 9, scored a maximum of 27 runs in just 16 balls. Only then did the New Zealand team achieve this result. Batsmen like Will Young and Glenn Phillips, who showed wonders in India, failed. For Sri Lanka, young spinner Dunith Vellalage took 3 wickets, while pacers Nuwan Untilhara and Matisha Pathirana took 2 wickets each.
Captain Aslanka led to victory.
Sri Lanka also struggled early and in the second over, Mitchell Santner returned opener Kusal Mendis without opening the account. Only 3 wickets had fallen in 55 runs, while in 87 runs half the team had returned to the pavilion. The goal was not very big, so the match still seemed in Sri Lanka’s favor. From here, captain Charit Asalanka took command on one side and died after leading the team to the goal. Sri Lanka scored 140 runs losing 6 wickets in 19 overs, registering victory and taking the lead in the series. Asalanka returned unbeaten after scoring 35 runs in 28 balls, while Kusal Perera and Kamindu Mendis scored 23 runs each. Zakari, who scored the most runs for New Zealand, also took the maximum 3 wickets.
