Player of the Match
Player of the Match
  • BATSMEN
    R
    B
    M
    4s
    6s
    SR
    36.5 patient and smart work from Santner, who has the injured batter caught at deep square leg. He made Nissanka reach for it outside off again, and bowled very slow. Nissanka made decent contact, but Smith only has to run in a few metres to pouch that. 204/5
    11.1 holes out to deep midwicket! Avishka will be kicking himself for not making a better fist of this innings on a flat pitch. This is a shortish delivery from Smith, just outside off. Avishka tries to drag it over the legside boundary and miscues it badly. Finds the fielder to perfection basically, and both Sri Lanka's openers are out of action 69/1
    27.3 top edges a sweep and it goes high to settle in the hands of Michael Bracewell at the edge of the circle, around midwicket. Kusal would have been desperate to push on to a big one on this pitch, but Santner has got a little extra bounce with a tossed up delivery outside off, and Kusal falls playing one of his favourite shots 156/2
    33.5 Henry gets the breakthrough he's been brought back to get. Kamindu Mendis' laboured innings ends with an edge to the wicketkeeper. This was on the shorter side of a good length and angled across the leftie, who tried to chop it through the offside but provided that edge instead. 183/4
    29.2 Henry pulls off the self-relay catch on the boundary! That redeems him a little for the drop earlier. This ball is tossed up outside off, and Asalanka's eyes light up as he tries to target that short boundary over wide long on. But he doesn't hit it well enough, and Hanry - running to his right from long off - pouches the ball, tosses it up as he crosses the boundary briefly, and completes the catch after stepping back into the field. Sharp bit of work, and Sri Lanka's captain is out cheaply 160/3
    49.3 Holes out! Tries a yorker but ends up bowling a low full-toss, he crouches and gets under it, belabours a pull but finds Phillips, who is safe as a house, at deep midwicket. Useful contribution nevertheless. Superb bowling from Henry, bringing all his experience to the fore 285/8
    45.1 Miscues it! Banged in shortish on middle and teases him with the lack of pace, he made his mind to attack, takes him on and goes for the full-blooded pull, picks out Nathan Smith at deep midwicket who makes the catch look so easy. Perishes but he had to go big 248/6
    47.4 Brutal yorker! There was a short meeting between Henry and Santner and he comes up with a stunning yorker on off; Hasaranga makes room and opens the face of the bat to steer it away but it's just too good and accurate and right into the blockhole. Excellent execution of a yorker, a delivery that has stood the test of times and is always a go-to option at death no matter what the conditions are 272/7
    not out
    11
    8
    11
    2
    0
    137.5
    not out
    1
    1
    2
    0
    0
    100
    Extras
    8 (lb 4, w 4)
    TOTAL
    290/8 (50 Overs, RR: 5.8)
    Did not bat: AM Fernando
    Fall of wickets: 1-69 (Avishka Fernando, 11.1 ov), 2-156 (Kusal Mendis, 27.3 ov), 3-160 (Charith Asalanka, 29.2 ov), 4-183 (Kamindu Mendis, 33.5 ov), 5-204 (Pathum Nissanka, 36.5 ov), 6-248 (Chamidu Wickramasinghe, 45.1 ov), 7-272 (Wanindu Hasaranga, 47.4 ov), 8-285 (Janith Liyanage, 49.3 ov)
    BowlingOMRWEcon0s4s6sWDNB
    MJ Henry1005545.5365300
    W O'Rourke1005705.7343320
    NG Smith806217.75225400
    MJ Santner1005525.5321420
    MG Bracewell904515274100
    GD Phillips301204122000
  • BATSMEN
    R
    B
    M
    4s
    6s
    SR
    1.4 chipped to short midwicket. Barring the no-ball this is turning into quite the over. This is genuine swing, rather than turn, that does the trick. It moves in to Young late, in the air, and takes the inside portion of his bat as he tries to drive through mid on. Ends up giving Hasaranga an easy wasit-high catch. Lovely powerplay spin bowling from Theekshana, who rocks that craft with the best of them atm 3/1
    2.2 an absolute spectacular from Asitha Fernando. Holy crap what a ball! Ravindra, a batter in form by the way, did not get close to that. Asitha starts this on a line that suggests it will go past off stump, so Ravindra gets his feet and bat in place to play that line. But in the last third of its trajectory, the ball swings prodigiously and strightens, and slips between bat and pad to rattle the base of middle stump. A viper of a ball. 4/2
    29.4 There you go! Theekshana has the last laugh; second time he has taken a wicket after being slammed for a boundary in this innings. That was pushed full on sixth stump line outside off, he went down on one knee and tried to slog it over midwicket, got the toe-end and ended up making a mess of his stumps. Handshakes all-around as Sri Lanka have ticked all the boxes in this game and put up a strong show. Win by a whooping 140 runs! Mighty impressive comeback. Stellar lone-ranger work from Chapman; kept them in the hunt and the game could have gone down to the wire had New Zealand kept a few wickets but they couldn't recover from the early wobble in the powerplay; the dent was too big 150/10
    5.3 a stunning catch at backward point. That's Nuwanidu Fernando, who is on the field for the injured Pathum Nissanka, I suspect. This is length, just a little wide of off, and Mitchell tries to carve this square on the offside, but hits it within diving distance of Nuwanidu, who leaps to his left and holds the chance, which comes at a very catchable height - around waist high. Sri Lnaka are pumped 20/3
    6.2 another spectacular catch at backward point. It's Hasaranga this time. Asitha deserved another wicket for this spell, but the ball he gets it with is unlike most he's bowled - it's a short one outside off, that gets up to about sternum height for Latham. Its a little wide of off so he tries to slap it through point, but can't keep it down. Hasaranga dives to his left and intercepts the ball - which is traveling quickly - a few centimetres from the turf. Does well to keep holding on when his elbows hit the ground too 21/4
    6.5 edged and caught at second slip by a tumbling Kamindu Mendis. Asitha is having one of the white-ball spells of his life here. This is fullish, in the channel, angled in to GP, who pushes at it on the front foot. But the ball swings late again, takes the edge, and Kamindu takes it at about shoulder height as he moves to the left. New Zealand are five down and a loooong way from 291. 21/5
    12.6 Oh, saw him advancing down the track and cleverly pulled his length back and purposely cramped him for room, he knew he was in danger as his facial expressions said everything with mouth open and he is being snaggled by the fielder at deep midwicket. Got plenty of height but just not enough distance. Extremely well-bowled and New Zealand after a little bit of a recovery lose another vital cog. Getting tougher and tougher for New Zealand; they are in a dilemma whether to block block block or take risks and keep the asking rate in check. Nothing working for them. They are pushed against the wall 48/6
    17.1 Tossed from around on a length and it slides across off, drawn into a push and tries to work it away to cover and gets a feather to the keeper, Kusal Mendis takes a sharp catch and Theekshana strikes! New Zealand are seven down, staring into the abyss. What a total contrast in a matter of few days; Sri Lanka making a resounding comeback and making a mockery of New Zealand. This was beautifully bowled, 94 kph and got it to turn away 77/7
    26.1 Malingaaaa! Gone after some gritty resistance. Sharp back of a length delivery on a nagging off-stump line, he flings the bat out and the outside edge is drawn, a feather edge. Has to take the long walk back to the pavilion. Beautifully bowled, sticking to his guns, keeping it tight in the channel and he couldn't resist the temptation and was drawn into the shot 128/8
    28.2 Stumps shattered, what a sight for the bowler. What do we know? Explains why Chapman was not keen on rotating the strike. But it was a magnificent slow delivery that danced in the air and pegged him back, he lunges at it and couldn't get behind the line. Beautiful off-cutter that totally caught him off-guard. Entertaining brief innings 143/9
    not out
    1
    3
    6
    0
    0
    33.33
    Extras
    21 (lb 2, nb 1, w 18)
    TOTAL
    150 all out (29.4 Overs, RR: 5.05)
    Fall of wickets: 1-3 (Will Young, 1.4 ov), 2-4 (Rachin Ravindra, 2.2 ov), 3-20 (Daryl Mitchell, 5.3 ov), 4-21 (Tom Latham, 6.2 ov), 5-21 (Glenn Phillips, 6.5 ov), 6-48 (Michael Bracewell, 12.6 ov), 7-77 (Mitchell Santner, 17.1 ov), 8-128 (Nathan Smith, 26.1 ov), 9-143 (Matt Henry, 28.2 ov), 10-150 (Mark Chapman, 29.4 ov)
    BowlingOMRWEcon0s4s6sWDNB
    AM Fernando702633.71311160
    M Theekshana7.403534.56313031
    E Malinga713535273140
    J Liyanage301615.3392000
    C Wickramasinghe301404.66102000
    PW Hasaranga202201132110

Match Details

Toss

Sri Lanka , elected to bat first

Player Of The Match

Player Of The Series

Series result

New Zealand won the 3-match series 2-1

Match number

Season

Hours of play (local time)

14.00 start, First Session 14.00-17.30, Interval 17.30-18.10, Second Session 18.10-21.40

Match days

11 January 2025 - day/night match (50-over match)

Reserve Umpire

Match Referee

Match Notes

New Zealand 2nd innings Partnerships

WktRunsPlayers
1st3WA YoungR Ravindra
2nd1MS ChapmanR Ravindra
3rd16DJ MitchellMS Chapman
4th1TWM LathamMS Chapman
5th0MS ChapmanGD Phillips
6th27MG BracewellMS Chapman
7th16MS ChapmanMJ Santner