A captain’s knock by Charith Asalanka steered Sri Lanka to a hard-fought four-wicket victory over New Zealand with six balls to spare in Saturday’s T20I opener in Dambulla. Chasing a modest 136 to win, Sri Lanka’s batsman struggled to capitalize against the second-string visiting team.
But a crucial 38-run stand for the sixth wicket between Charith Asalanka and Wanindu Hasaranga steadied the ship and inched the team to victory. Charith Asalanka finished unbeaten on a well-judged 35 off 28 balls. New Zealand’s 135 all out was the third-lowest total in T20Is in Dambulla
Pitch Report and Toss
Pitch Report : This pitch was used on the 17th of October when Sri Lanka took on West Indies. The pitch looks hard, runs on offer in the batting powerplay and then the spinners will come into play. 165 is the par score here and anything around that score should be competitive, reckons Farveez Maharoof, in his pitch report.
Toss : New Zealand skipper Mitchell Santner won the toss and chose to bat with the young side taking the field in the match. Charith Asalanka the Sri Lanka skipper who also wanted to bat first played with 3 spinners, two fast bowlers and two all-rounders in the playing XI.
Dunith Wellalage’s 3-fer restricts NZ to 135 all out
The first six overs kind of set the tone for the whole thing. The ball was almost immediately turning square, as even Maheesh Theekshana – a modest turner of the ball usually – ripped it big in the first over of the innings.
Theekshana would only strike off the last ball of the innings, getting Will Young lbw for a run-a-ball 19. But before that, Dunith Wellalage nailed Tim Robinson in front with an arm ball, and Nuwan Thushara had Mark Chapman flick a slower ball to deep square leg.
All up, it was outstanding slow-pitch bowling from Sri Lanka. New Zealand were down at 31 for 3 when the fielding restrictions eased. They’d go on to control the middle overs too – New Zealand only made 66 off the next ten overs, and lost five further wickets.
Wellalage was the earliest benefactor of the said turn, as he started by striking in his first over to clean up New Zealand opener Tim Robinson. New Zealand lost a couple more inside the PowerPlay as Nuwan Thusara snuffed out Mark Chapman in the fourth over and Maheesh Theekshana trapped Will Young LBW.
Glenn Phillips and Michael Bracewell’s attempts to kick on after the PowerPlay went only till the ninth over when the former was trapped leg before by a wrong ‘un from Hasaranga. New Zealand lost their fifth in the 10th over when debutant Mitch Hay nicked one behind to give Matheesha Pathirana his first wicket.
The fast bowler got another in his next over with a short ball that Josh Clarkson top-edged to Kamindu Mendis at fine leg. Bracewell continued to throw his bat around to drag New Zealand forward, but was stopped in his tracks in the 15th over by Thushara. Mitchell Santner then became another victim to Hasaranga’s googly, getting stumped in the 16th to leave the visitors struggling at 96/8.
Foulkes and Ish Sodhi then pushed the team past 100 with a vital 39-run stand. Foulkes finished unbeaten on 27 off 16 as New Zealand post 135/9 in 20 overs, giving their bowlers something to work with on a tricky surface.
Charith Asalanka guides SL to nervy 4 wicket win after Zachary Foulkes 3-fer
In only his third international, bowling allrounder Zakary Foulkes brought all his skills to bear. First he cracked 27 not out off 16 to raise New Zealand from an embarrassing total to merely a modest one. With the ball, he bowled Nissanka with a fullish delivery, bounced Bhanuka Rajapaksa, then, had Wanindu Hasaranga holing out to collect figures of 3 for 20.
Kusal Perera helped propel Sri Lanka through the powerplay, hitting 22 off 15 while the fielding restrictions were on, though his team lost Pathum Nissanka and Kusal Mendis through this period.
And because this is is a Sri Lanka victory of this age, Kamindu Mendis has to have a hand in it too. He made 23 off 16, mostly after the powerplay ended.
At different times in the chase, it looked that the New Zealand bowlers had enough to weave their magic, but came up short in the end. Santner dismissed Kusal Mendis in the second over but Pathum Nissanka and Kusal Perera hit back with 38 runs in three PowerPlay overs to get the chase going. Nissanka looked to throw Foulkes off track when the pacer was introduced too, but had his stumps disturbed instead in the sixth over. Bracewell then trapped Perera in the seventh to push Sri Lanka to 55/3.
Once again, just as it looked like New Zealand could wrestle back some control, Sri Lanka teed off. This time, through their captain Charith Asalanka who tonked two sixes – over long-off and mid-wicket – to take his team to 78/3 in 10 overs. The pendulum of momentum swung wildly again with the introduction of Glenn Phillips, who lucked out with a wicket off a half-tracker that Kamindu Mendis mishit to Ish Sodhi who ran forward from short third to take a catch.
Foulkes turned the screws further with the wicket of Bhanuka Rajapaksa in the following over to leave Sri Lanka five down. Charith Asalanka and Hasaranga then stitched a partnership that put the result beyond doubt, even as the latter was dismissed in the 18th over for a 23-ball 22. Just seven were needed from the last 12, which Sri Lanka got through a four and a six tonked by Wellalage in the penultimate over.
After seeing what New Zealand did in the Tests in India, you can never be too sure they don’t have something special up their sleeves. Charith Asalanka made sure that although Sri Lanka kept losing wickets, he was on hand to see the victory through, hitting two sixes off his first 11 balls to start, before toning it down and knocking it around as Sri Lanka knocked off the remaining runs.
Presentations and Road Ahead
Mitchell Santner the loosing NZ skipper said : We did pretty well to get to 130, credit to the way Sri Lankan spinners bowled. We were thinking maybe 150-160 at the start. Always a privilege to captain your country, it is an exciting young group and we got a lot of ODIS and T20Is coming up and we will take our learnings tonight and look to enjoy every moment.
Charith Asalanka Player of the Match and the winning skipper said : The plan was to bat till the end. I thought Wanindu and Wellalage batted well in the end. We could have bowled them out to less than 15-20 than what they did, but it was a good job from our bowlers. As a team, all the guys play spin very well and they always take the right option. As a captain, happy with the form and want to continue doing well for my team.
On a turning Dambulla track, Sri Lanka’s spinners claimed six wickets between them, kept a leash on the scoring rate, and restricted New Zealand to 135 all out. It should have been a straightforward chase, even despite the conditions. But it needed a cool head, which is what captain Charith Asalanka provided with his 35 not out off 28.
Sri Lanka got home with six balls to spare, and four wickets in hand, although the result was never super tense. New Zealand, remember, are trying out some young players at the very tail end of their long South-Asian spring.
Not enough runs on the board for New Zealand. They managed 11 boundaries with the bat, while Sri Lanka slammed 11 in the first 10 overs of the chase. Despite losing both openers in the powerplay, the hosts found momentum through Kusal Perera and Kamindu Mendis. Both Kusal Perera and Kamindu Mendis took the aggressive option more often than not and never allowed the momentum to slip away.
There was a little stutter after the 10th over mark as Sri Lanka lost a couple of wickets in quick succession. It was after the fifth (Rajapaksa) wicket, Sri Lanka decided to play it safe and built a 38-run valuable stand for the sixth wicket. Skipper Asalanka made sure he was there till the end and fittingly, it was the best bowler on show – Dunith Wellalage – who put the icing on the cake with a couple of boundaries in the end.
Finally, the high-flying New Zealand have tasted a loss. Sri Lanka, however, continue their recent-fine record at home. Both teams have got less then 24 hours to recover though. The second and final T20I will be played at the same venue, same time. Can the visitors turn things around to level the series or Sri Lanka to seal it 2-0 would be interesting to watch.