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SRI LANKA 196/5 (20 OVERS)
- Kusal Perera*53 (45)
- Charith Asalanka67 (41)
- James Neesham2/30 (4)
- Adam Milne1/42 (4)
NEW ZEALAND 196/8 (20 OVERS)
- Daryl Mitchell66 (44)
- Mark Chapman33 (23)
- Dasun Shanaka2/20 (2)
- Wanindu Hasaranga2/30 (4)
Scorer: Binoy George | Commentator: Ekanth
That wraps up our coverage of this match. A thrilling finish to regular play, but the Super Over was all Sri Lanka. See you again for the second T20I in Dunedin.
Shanaka: "We thought we were maybe 30 runs short on that pitch. I couldn't pitch in with runs today, but hope to do that in the coming matches. Maheesh is a superstar. Him, Wanindu, and Dilshan Madushanka did the job for us. With the wet ball it wasn't easy, but we did the job. We've never won a T20 series here, so we're looking forward to the next two games."
Latham: "Another great game of cricket at Eden Park. It was great for Ish to hit that six off the last ball. But it wasn't meant to be today. We didn't have that killer partnership to seal the game, but we got to the Super Over.
If you look at where they scored, it was straight. We were probably just a fraction full, and we have to work on that and hit just back of a length, going into Dunedin where it's a slightly smaller ground as well. We'll take the learnings from today."
Asalanka is player of the match: "It was an exciting game, but today it was our day. It's a small ground straight down the ground. I tried to hit boundaries because I back myself. The top three batted well and Kusal Perera batted really well and put up a partnership of more than 100 with me. Wanindu finished the batting off well also.
"Myself and Kusal Perera thought more than 210 was on because we had batting left, but the New Zealand bowlers did really well after the 15th over and kept us to less than 200."
Five (completed) matches into the tour, Sri Lanka finally have a win in New Zealand. Charith Asalanka was their most effective batter, first surging to 67 off 41 after Sri Lanka lost three wickets in a manic powerplay, before pounding a six and a four to win the Super Over. Maheesh Theekshana was exceptional as well, conceding only 22 in regular play (whilst taking a wicket), before delivering as good a Super Over as anyone has for Sri Lanka.
There were other heartening contributions - Kusal Perera hitting a half-century in his first match in 16 months (he'd been out through injury), and Wanindu Hasaranga was good in his four overs too.
Long conference among the fielders. Long-on is back, fielders in the ring on the off-side
Latham runs down and has a chat with Milne. Crowd goes up in cheer
Milne has bowled a few practice balls. Mendis is padding up, it'll be him and Asalanka to start off. Chris Silverwood, the coach, has a word with them. The batters have a small chat before making their way out. There is noise in the ground but it's dying down.
An early boundary or wicket could make the difference here. Fielders are in the ring on the off side.
END OF OVER:1 | NZ: 8/2
Excellent over from Theekshana but New Zealand have eight runs to defend. Milne will bowl the over. Theekshana started the over by going wide to Neesham. Chapman was unlucky to not get four more than he did but Theekshana adjusted his line, kept the lengths tight and ended the super over with the perfect ball.
MS Chapman b Theekshana
JDS Neesham c & b Theekshana
Chapman is padded up. Neesham and Mitchell run out. The fielders are out. If the super over is tied, we will have another super over. Maheesh Theekshana will bowl
END OF OVER:20 | NZ: 196/8 (1 run required, RR: 9.80)
4:35pm: New Zealand will bat first. Sri Lanka were in front at the end but, as was the case throughout the game, New Zealand fought back. Ravindra's wicket felt like it signalled the end. Sodhi found his timing from the get-go, he smoked the final ball to give the hosts another go.
Six to tie. Long conversations. Short third, gully in. Six to tie.
R Ravindra c PW Hasaranga b Shanaka 26 (20m 13b 2x4 2x6) SR: 200.00
Captain's brought himself on for the final over
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