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White Ferns: Bernie Bezuidenhout, Suzie Bates, Amelia Kerr, Sophie Devine, Maddy Green, Georgia Plimmer, Brooke Halliday, Lea Tahuhu, Leigh Kasperek, Eden Carson, Fran Jonas Sri Lanka: Vishmi Gunaratne, Chamari Athapaththu, Harshitha Samarawickrama, Kavisha Dilhari, Hasini Perera, Nilakshi de Silva, Anushka Sanjeewani, Sugandika Kumari, Inoka Ranaweera, Inoshi Priyadharshani, Udeshika Prabodhani
New Zealand won their fifth straight toss of the series and captain Sophie Devine decided to send Sri Lanka into bat.
Vishmi Gunaratne and Chamari Athapaththu opened the batting for Sri Lanka but Athapaththu didn’t last long. She was once again gone early being run out by Eden Carson with Bezuidenhout whipping the bails off, leaving Sri Lanka at 10/1 after 2.5 overs. Gunaratne was joined in the middle by Harshitha Samarawickrama but Gunaratne didn’t last much longer, as she was gone two balls later for 7 from 10, being bowled by Lea Tahuhu. Kavisha Dilhari could only last two balls, before being given LBW and Tahuhu taking her second of the day.
This left Sri Lanka in a horrible situation, sitting at 14/3. At the end of the fifth over, there was a rain shower but the players were only off the field for 20 minutes, meaning no overs were lost. Hasini Perera, had come into the Sri Lanka XI for this game, and she worked well with Samarawickrama to make sure Sri Lanka got the score ticking over, the pair saw off some of the White Ferns better bowlers, with the likes of Jonas, Carson and Kasperek not being able to break the stand.
Devine knew that to break the partnership she’d need to go back to one of her more threatening bowlers, and Tahuhu was introduced back into the attack. She struck on the fourth ball of the over, removing Perera for a well made 33 from 26, being caught by Georgia Plimmer. Just when it looked like Samarawickrama would take the anchor role and see Sri Lanka through to a good score, she was dismissed with Carson trapping her LBW for 23 from 28.
Nilakshi de Silva and Anushka Sanjeewani were the two batters that were going to have to make Sri Lanka get to a defendable total. In the partnership between the two of them, they took 13 off a Leigh Kasperek over and 11 runs from the last over, bowled by Tahuhu. de Silva was dismissed with one ball left in the innings, caught by Amelia Kerr and bowled by Tahuhu to give her four for the game. Perera was the best batter for Sri Lanka scoring 33 runs, Samarawickrama scored 23 and de Silva made 22. Tahuhu took four wickets for the White Ferns.
Bernie Bezuidenhout and Suzie Bates opened the batting for the White Ferns. The pair got the White Ferns off to a stable start being able to see through the first six overs and get the White Ferns to 30/0 after it. Both batters were able to find the boundary on the odd occasion, with Bezuidenhout looking to be the more aggressive batter of the two.
Unfortunately for Aotearoa, Bezuidenhout departed in the 9th over, for 24 from 21, being stumped by Sanjeewani from the bowling of Dilhari. Amelia Kerr joined Bates at the crease and the pair looked to carry on their momentum from the first T20i. They did just that, with both batters upping their scoring rate as the innings went on. They did keep New Zealand above the required rate for the knock, but weren’t playing too aggressively.
With only a few runs left for a victory, Bates' knock ended, after she had made 52 from 53. This knock also meant that she had now scored a T20i 50 in all the countries she has played in. Captain Devine and Kerr were able to see the White Ferns to the required total without losing any more wickets and giving them a 8 wicket win. This also meant they take a 2-0 series win, with one game to go. Bates top scored with 52 runs, whilst Kerr contributed 33. Dilhari and Ranaweera both took a wicket.
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