Hi Guys!

Greetings to all, hope you all are well and good and enjoying happy moments of life. I am also good at Alhamdulillah. Here Today I am going to share with you a report of the match between New Zealand and Sri Lanka. New Zealand wins the match after a great struggle.

Report

New Zealand 167 for 7 (Phillips 104, Rajitha 2-23) beat Sri Lanka 102 (Shanaka 35, Boult 4-13) by 65 runs

Sri Lanka had New Zealand 15 for 3 in the powerplay. But then they dropped Glenn Phillips, and it was all new Zealand from there. Phillips bashed 104 off 64 deliveries to almost single-handedly carry New Zealand to 167 for 7 (the next-highest score in the team was 22), before Trent Boult and Tim Southee put on a powerplay showcase, taking four wickets between them while the fielding restrictions were still on in Sri Lanka's chase.

Where New Zealand kept enough resources in store for a late-overs explosion, hitting 113 off the last 10, Sri Lanka squandered their batters before any sort of base could be established. They had crashed to 58 for 6 after 10 overs, and had no hope at all from there, eventually being bowled out for 102 as Boult finished with career-best figures of 4 for 13 and Southee claimed 1 for 12.

This result took New Zealand to the top of the Group 1 table, with five points and an outstanding net run rate of 3.85. It sent Sri Lanka down to near the bottom of the table, with two points after three matches, and a poor NRR of -0.89. This means New Zealand are in an excellent place to not only qualify for the semi finals but also finish top of their group. Sri Lanka, however, will find a semi-finals spot incredibly difficult to seize from here.

Phillips gets dropped
We're not out to make Phillips' century seem unearned, because of course it was. But had Pathum Nissanka held a sitter off Phillips in the seventh over, off the bowling of Wanindu Hasaranga, Phillips would have been out for 12 off 15, and New Zealand would have been 29 for 4. Phillips was also dropped for 45 off the 38th ball he faced - Dasun Shanaka unable to hold on to a tough chance running in from long off.

Phillips' spectacular hitting
Sri Lanka kept taking the pace off the ball to Phillips, and in the best moments in this outstanding knock, he kept bullying the bowling over the boundary, mostly with brute strength. His successive sixes off Maheesh Theekshana in the 17th over, were especially brilliant. He first backed away to blast Theekshana high over wide long-on for six, and when the bowler pulled back the length next ball, Phillips backed away and bullied him into the sightscreen with a flat bat. All up, Phillips hit four sixes - the others coming off seam bowling - in addition to 10 fours. One of those fours was the murderous pull that got him to his second T20I century, and the second for New Zealand at a World Cup. The key partnership of the innings was Phillips' stand of 84 with Daryll Mitchell, which helped raise New Zealand from the depths. Mitchell contributed 22 off 24; Phillips 59 off 40.

Boult and Southee carve up the top order
Signs were not good for Sri Lanka when Southee opened with a wicket-maiden, bowling four swinging, dot balls to Nissanka, before the batter was stressed into attempting a weird leg-side heave which ended with him being trapped lbw. It got worse when Trent Boult claimed two wickets in the next over, having Kusal Mendis caught behind off the outside edge, before bowling Dhananjaya de Silva off the inside edge .In Boult's second over, Charith Asalanka sliced one to backward point, where Finn Allen took a low catch. This left Sri Lanka at 8 for 4 after four overs. Despite Bhanuka Rajapaksa's 34 from 22, they did not look like ever launching a serious recovery .

Sri Lanka's excellent early overs
What Sri Lanka will rue most is that they let the game slip after making such a strong start. Theekshana swung one into Allen's off stump in the first over. De Silva bowled Devon Conway in the third. Kasun Rajitha had Kane Williamson caught behind in the fourth. But where New Zealand would put on an outstanding fielding performance, Sri Lanka's was awful. Beyond the dropped catches, there were fumbles in the outfield, mis-fields in the circle, and poor throws from everywhere. This went some way to deciding the game.

Commentary

And on that note, it's time for us take our leave. The points table should be updated shortly, and remember, tomorrow is a triple header with BanvZim, NedvPak and IndvSA all taking place. So be sure to join us for that. Until then, for myself, Shashank Kishore and Chandan Duorah, it's goodbye!

NZ skipper Kane Williamson: "[what did you think of the match?] Yeah it was interesting, the wicket was different to what we were expecting. It was tennis ball-ey, got stuck on the surface, the cutters were really effective, little bit variable I think - as opposed to the last pitch we were on. So I guess trying to make those sort of adjustments on the same sort of grounds is important, and Sri Lanka were also really good at the top. And then Glenn Phillips and Daryll Mitchell put together a partnership, and it was an incredible knock to get a very very good total on this surface. [On Phillips?] Any hundred is amazing and you see it all the time on good surfaces, and here you see a guy trying to have to work really, really hard to get his team out of trouble. And then to try and move that pressure on to the opposition, and he just did it incredibly well."

SL skipper Dasun Shanaka: "I think we started really well, particularly in the first 10 overs. But credit to Glenn Phillips who played an outstanding knock. We also dropped a few catches. 160 is always a tough ask with their bowling attack, but also Boult and Southee bowled really well up front. [losing so many wickets in the powerplay?] There's a way to chase big totals, and in the first couple of tables you have to give yourself a chance. We never got settled in the wicket. [approach the next two games] If we get a couple of wins, we're still in with a chance of qualifying, so just looking forward to that."

JOYDEEPSINGHGIL: "I'm sure if sl didn't drop Phillips catch nz score would've below 135 and sl would've chased that amount of runs could've rain biter match than completely one sided today wasn't sl day they misfielded missed run out chances too and dropped the crucial catch of Phillips which eventually costed them this match." 'Ifs' and 'ands' etc., but had SL approached that chase smarter it might not have mattered.

Rohit: "Will join hordes of others in hopes of getting this published - Phillips won by 2 runs." Ha! You're not wrong Rohit. Lucky you I guess.

Glenn Phillips is the Player of the Match for his 64-ball 104: "[discussions at 3 for 15] Me and Daryll were really clear we wanted to be as positive as possible, and try and make the right positive choice. On a pitch like that it was a little difficult to hit the slower ball, so it was just about getting through and trying to get to a competitive total. At the end of the day I think we were a little bit above par. [how much did you enjoy your innings] I try to entertain as much possible, and today it worked out well. But the way the bowlers bowl and the catches that were taken, it was incredible from the team as well. [what does it mean to score a century in a WC?] It's absolutely indescribable, but for it's just about sticking to my process."

10.25pm Well, that's that and what started as quite a harrowing test of New Zealand's credentials has ended in a romp. Following on from Glenn Phillips' masterful century to help put up a competitive 167, Tim Southee and Trent Boult broke the back of the Lankan chase to reduce Sri Lanka to 8 for 4 inside the powerplay. There was the faintest of hopeful glimmers when Dasun Shanaka and Bhanuka Rajapaksa were at the crease, but the ask by that point seemed always beyond them. In the end the chase just petered out, as NZ recorded their second straight comprehensive win of the tournament. They're well on their way to the semis, barring something calamitous, while Sri Lanka now need to win their remaining two games and hope other results go their way.