A late bowling fightback sparked by Jacob Duffy produced a remarkable eight-run victory for New Zealand against Sri Lanka at Mount Maunganui on Saturday. Jacob Duffy was at the heart of the collapse with a three-wicket 14th over, as he set the wheels in motion for a sterling New Zealand comeback – which also earned him the player of the match award.
Jacob Duffy won the Player of the Match award while Daryl Mitchell and Michael Bracewell scored fifties. Sri Lanka though will be at a loss for words in attempting to explain how they let this game slip. New Zealand took a 1-0 lead in the three-match T20I series after beating Sri Lanka by eight runs on Saturday at the Bay Oval in Mount Maunganui.
Pitch Report and Toss
Pitch Report : The Bay Oval surface at Mount Maunganui favours batters. Initially, the ball tends to swing, helping fast bowlers to pick early wickets. However, as the match progresses, batting becomes more manageable on this track. Spinners might find the going tough during the first innings, but the pitch substantially assists them during the second innings. The team that wins the toss will look to bat first.
The Bay Oval pitch favors batters but offers some assistance to pacers early in the innings. Spinners may play a role in the middle overs. A first-innings score of 170+ will be competitive. The weather in Mount Maunganui is expected to be sunny with temperatures around 25°C. There’s no rain forecast, ensuring a full game.
Toss : Sri Lanka skipper Charith Asalanka won the toss and chose to bowl with 3 pacers and 2 spinners to their playing XI. Mitchell Santner NZ skipper batting first also played with players who were successful in Sri Lanka and didnt give chances to Bevon Jacobs and Nathan Smith to make their debuts in this match atleast.
Daryl Mitchell and Michael Bracewell’s half centuries carries NZ to 172 after disastrous half way situation
Mitchell Santner had been concerned about about a “green tinge” on the surface having been put in to bat, and after the first ten overs his concerns seemed warranted as New Zealand had stumbled to 65 for 5.
Binura Fernando, playing his first T20I in nine months, proved the most effective of Sri Lanka’s three seamers despite never clocking more than 130kph. He showed admirable control and found consistent movement in the air despite bowling mostly on a good length or slightly further back; the wickets of Tim Robinson and Rachin Ravindra were just rewards, and he might have had another had Charith Asalanka not spilled Mark Chapman at mid-off.
Binura’s opening burst of three overs went for just 12 runs, before a Hasaranga double-strike in the 10th over really rammed home Sri Lanka’s early dominance.
After being asked to bat first, New Zealand put up a decent score of 172 for the loss of eight wickets. It was the pair of Daryl Mitchell and Michael Bracewell that helped the Black Caps stage a comeback. At 65 for five in 9.5 overs, the hosts looked in all sorts of trouble. But Mitchell and Bracewell put on 105 runs for the sixth wicket to put the Kiwis in a decent position.
If the first half of the innings belonged to Sri Lanka, the second was well and truly New Zealand’s. After a couple of overs treading water, Bracewell signaled his intent to shift gears with a pair of boundaries off Maheesh Theekshana in the 14th, before unloading on an off-color Matheesha Pathirana an over later – a flicked six into the grass banks and a monster loft over wide long-off the highlights in a 22-run over.
Bracewell’s power was on total display from then on as Hasaranga and Binura were also both taken for maximums over the next few overs. And there would be no respite for Sri Lanka at the other end either, as Mitchell struck in lockstep with his partner, the pair even bringing up their respective fifties off consecutive deliveries.
In total, 107 runs were struck between overs 10-20, with 85 of those coming off the six-over period from 13-19. Only an excellent final over from Theekshana, where three wickets fell for just three runs ensured New Zealand were kept below 180.
Mitchell threw his bat around to score 62 off 42, laced with four fours and two sixes. Bracewell smacked four fours and as many sixes on his way to scoring an unbeaten 59 off 33. Binura Fernando, Maheesh Theekshana and Wanindu Hasaranga took two wickets apiece. Matheesha Pathirana took one wicket, but leaked 60 runs in his quota of four overs. For New Zealand, Rachin Ravindra, Glenn Phillips and Mitchell Hay failed to go past single digits.
Four overs for 60 runs and a solitary wicket marked a bad day at the office for Pathirana, but it’s the three no-balls (and subsequent free hits) that will no doubt have Sri Lanka’s coaching staff pulling their hair out. That one of those accounted for the wicket of Mitchell, when he was on eight, will be particularly grating.
Pathirana also struggled with identifying an effective length, constantly bowling fuller than ideal – surprising considering the success Binura had had by hitting the deck harder, not to mention the success Pathirana himself has had with similar lengths in the past.
Jacob Duffy the slayer with a dramatic 3-fer in an over as Pathum Nissanka’s 90 runs goes in vain to hand NZ an 8 run win over SL
Sri Lanka made a thunderous start to their run-chase, making 56 runs in the powerplay without losing a single wicket. Pathum Nissanka and Kusal Mendis put on 121 runs for the opening wicket off 13.3 overs. However, with 52 runs needed off 39 balls, the Sri Lankan batting capitulated.
Things were different at the start of the chase as Kusal Mendis and Nissanka, after three quiet overs, got stuck into Foulkes in a 17-run over. They brought up the 50 in the PowerPlay and found the boundary regularly in every over. It forced New Zealand skipper Mitchell Santner to even turn to Rachin Ravindra who also conceded 14 runs in the over, which also saw Nissanka bring up his 50. They both played elegant drives and cuts especially on the offside until Jacob Duffy broke the game open.
Jacob Duffy gave New Zealand their first breakthrough after dismissing Mendis, who scored 46 runs off 36 balls with six fours and a six. Nissanka kept the innings going with a quick-fire half-century off 34 balls. He went on to play until the penultimate over, but his efforts went in vain.
The turning point came in the 14th over when Jacob Duffy picked up three wickets in an over to give the hosts a slight opening which they pounced on. He first got Kusal Mendis (46) to glove a pull to the ‘keeper before following it up with the wickets of Kusal Perera and Kamindu Mendis off consecutive deliveries, both batters falling for ducks.
Jacob Duffy could not pick up a hat-trick but ended with figures of 4-0-21-3, breaking the game open completely. Sri Lanka needed 29 off the last three overs and with seven wickets still in hand, the odds were heavily stacked in their favour. But young Zakary Foulkes dealt a further blow after Charith Asalanka pulled another short delivery straight down the throat of the deep square leg fielder.
The drama intensified as Bhanuka Rajapaksa was adjudged LBW first ball but survived through the recourse of DRS as the ball was pitching outside leg. The batter then ended the 18th over with back-to-back boundaries with the game in the balance.
Pathum Nissanka, who watched the carnage unfold from the other end, couldn’t rescue the visitors despite having scored 90. In what appeared like he had nailed a cut over point, Tim Robinson took a stunning catch in the deep to dismiss the set batter and pin the visitors further back. Matt Henry then sent Rajapaksa’s leg-stump for a walk in the penultimate over. Foulkes then had Maheesh Theekshana caught and Wanindu Hasaranga run-out as the hosts closed out a famous win.
Nissanka scored 90 runs off 60 balls with seven fours and three sixes before Matt Henry dismissed him. With 20 runs needed off the last 10 deliveries, Sri Lanka could not hold their nerves. Jacob Duffy was the pick of the New Zealand bowlers with three wickets, while Henry and Zakary Foulkes took two wickets apiece.
Presentations and Road Ahead
Mitchell Santner the winning skipper said : Was a game of two halves, both with bat and ball. Was setup by the partnership. Showed that once you were in, you could get going. Looked like there was a bit there with the new ball. Their left-arm seamer bowled well. Once the ball got older it came on a bit better. Bit tough when you lose wickets in clumps. Was a massive partnership for us, the way they went about, they soaked it in for a bit then took it on.
We knew we had a bit of momentum going for the second innings. Their openers played really well. We tried to take wickets, the way the seamers fought back with some aggressive bowling and aggressive field sets, we like to keep mid-wicket up to try and see what they want to do. Duffy changed the game for us.
Charith Asalanka the loosing skipper said : Very disappointed about the result, we really should have done better. The openers batted really well, apart from that, including me, rest of us had to take the responsibility. That’s the beauty of this game, things can change quickly, we hope to come back well.
I thought we could’ve done bit better with the bowling and fielding, thought it was a decent pitch and when the openers were batting it will be real easy. Want to comeback and do really well in the next game.
Jacob Duffy Player of the Match for his 3-fer in one over said : Momentum was flowing their way, we took a few punts and tried to create something and I guess it paid off. We know these conditions pretty well. Nice coming back from Asia and playing here, was a good experience.
It was a heist for the ages in Mount Maunganui as New Zealand secured an eight-run win in the first T20I, and with it took a 1-0 lead in the three-match series. But more importantly it was a lesson in fight from the hosts, one the visitors would do well to take note of.
For much of the game it had looked Sri Lanka’s to lose. The first instance was when New Zealand were reeling on 65 for 5 midway through their innings, and the second when Sri Lanka were cruising after a 121-run opening stand needing just 52 off 40 deliveries.
On both occasions New Zealand fought back, and hard – initially through a 105-run stand between Daryl Mitchell and Michael Bracewell to post a competitive 172 for 8, and then finally through a late strangle that saw Sri Lanka lose eight wickets for 38 runs after being in total control of proceedings.
Jacob Duffy was at the heart of the collapse with a three-wicket 14th over, as he set the wheels in motion for a sterling New Zealand comeback – which also earned him the player of the match award. Sri Lanka though will be at a loss for words in attempting to explain how they let this game slip.
New Zealand take a 1-0 lead in incredible fashion. They looked out of the contest for all money but they hung in there and when they were presented with a little opening, they broke the door down. It was a similar story when they batted too as they recovered from 64/5 to 172/8 thanks to a superb 105-run stand between Mitchell and Bracewell. Sri Lanka were then absolutely cruising in the chase. Both openers looked in sublime touch and they raced along 121 in the 14th over but that’s when things took a dramatic turn.
They lost 3 wickets in the 14th bowled by Jacob Duffy and just couldn’t quite recover from that setback. The new batters found it difficult to get going and they just kept losing wickets. New Zealand bowled superbly too, they nailed their lines and lengths and gave nothing away. It was the pressure they created that led to Sri Lanka’s rather unbelievable implosion. What a cracking game to get us started in this series. It can only be a precursor to all the action that is to follow.