New Zealand Batter Glenn Phillips scored a magnificent century while Trent Boult scalped four wickets which leads New Zealand to beat Sri Lanka by 65 runs in their Group 1 encounter at the Sydney Cricket Ground T20 World Cup.
The victory in Group 1 sees New Zealand sit at the top of the table in Group 1 with 5 points in three games. The victory also sees them edge one step closer to sealing a place in the semi-finals. Sri Lanka meanwhile stays on two points from three matches. The victory was also New Zealand’s biggest against Sri Lanka in terms of runs in T20Is.
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New Zealand Won the Toss and elected to bat first while batting first New Zealand team set the target of 168 runs ins 20 overs.
Chasing 168, Sri Lanka’s innings never got going as they failed to counter the clever bowling from Tim Southee and Trent Boult. Southee grabbed one wicket in the first over, with Boult scalping two in the second as Sri Lanka was reduced to 6/3. Boult would have his third in his fourth over, sending Charith Asalanka packing as Sri Lanka was reeling at 8/4.
After the early blows, Sri Lanka never quite recovered, despite the best efforts of Bhanuka Rajapaksa. The batter scored 34 off 22 before being dismissed by Lockie Ferguson. Mitchell Santner would also strike twice, getting the wickets of Chamika Karunaratne and Maheesh Thekshana, as Sri Lanka was limping around at 65/8.
Skipper Dasun Shanaka’s spirited effort of 35 for 32 would also come to an end as Boult ended his knock to scalp his fourth of the match. The pacer would end his spell with figures of 4/13. Ish Sodhi would scalp the final wicket of Lahiru Kumara in the final over as Sri Lanka was bowled out for 102.
