Skipper Mitchell Santner: Skipper Mitchell Santner and Cole McConchie produced one of the greatest lower-order recoveries in Men’s T20 World Cup history to lift New Zealand to 168/7 in their 20 overs against Sri Lanka in their Super Eights clash at the R Premadasa Stadium on Wednesday.The pair added 84 runs for the seventh wicket, the highest stand for that position in the tournament’s history, surpassing the 74-run partnership between Michael Hussey and Steve Smith against Bangladesh at Bridgetown in 2010. Their effort – Santner making 47 and McConchie hitting 31 not out – came after New Zealand had slumped to 98/6 in 16 overs.
Santner and McConchie plundered 70 runs in the final four overs, punishing Sri Lanka’s bowlers for bowling a string of full tosses and loose deliveries at the death. McConchie’s clean hitting silenced the Colombo crowd, while Santner provided crucial support with timely boundaries to take the Blackcaps to a competitive score.
For Sri Lanka, Maheesh Theekshana and Dushmantha Chameera picked 3-30 and 3-38 respectively, but they will wonder if the damage done in the last four overs would bite them hard. In the start, New Zealand’s top order faltered after a brisk start from Finn Allen, who hit four boundaries in the first three overs.
But after that, Sri Lanka’s bowling show began – Allen chipped tamely back to Theekshana for a caught and bowled dismissal, while Tim Seifert pulled to deep square leg off Chameera. Rachin Ravindra and Glenn Phillips hit a few boundaries in a brief partnership.
But Sri Lanka continued to chip away – Phillips was castled by a ripper from Chameera, while Ravindra cut straight to backward point off Theekshana, who clean bowled Mark Chapman, while Dunith Wellalage dismissed Daryl Mitchell in the same fashion.
Brief Scores: New Zealand 168/7 in 20 overs (Mitchell Santner 47, Rachin Ravindra 32; Maheesh Theekshana 3-30, Dushmantha Chameera 3-38) against Sri Lanka
Article Source: IANS