Sri Lanka beats New Zealand by 7 runs in the last T20

Kusal Perera scored the fastest century for Sri Lanka in T20 cricket and led his team to a thrilling 7-run victory in the last match of the three-match series. Perera scored a century in just 44 balls and made a brilliant century partnership with captain Charith Asalanka to take Sri Lanka to a strong score of 218/5. This is Sri Lanka’s second highest score in T20 cricket.

Sri Lanka’s innings: Perera and Asalanka shine

After winning the toss and opting to bat first, the Sri Lankan team wreaked havoc on the New Zealand bowlers thanks to Kusal Perera and Charit Asalanka.

• Kusal Perera:
  In his explosive innings, Perera did not let the New Zealand bowlers run and completed his century in 44 balls.
• Charit Asalanka:
  Captain Asalanka supported him well and maintained pressure on New Zealand.

New Zealand’s innings: Fighting innings from Rachin Ravindra

Chasing the target of 219 runs, the New Zealand team scored 211/7 runs.

• Start of Powerplay:
  New Zealand got off to a great start and scored 60 runs without loss in the powerplay.
• Rachin Ravindra:
  Rachin Ravindra played a quick inning of 69 runs in 39 balls, but his innings could not take the team to victory.

Performance of Sri Lankan bowlers

• Charit Asalanka:
  Asalanka took 3 wickets, which included Rachin Ravindra, Mark Chapman (9) and Glenn Phillips (6). However, in his last over, Daryl Mitchell hit four consecutive sixes.
• Wanindu Hasaranga:
  Hasaranga restricted New Zealand’s run rate by dismissing Mitchell Hay (8) and Michael Bracewell (1) in the 16th over.

thrill of the last over

New Zealand needed 22 runs in the last over.

• New Zealand took 6 runs on the first three balls.
• Jacques Fox hit a six on the fourth ball.
• 10 runs were needed on the last two balls, but the batsman could score only 3 runs.

Player of the match and series

• Player of the match:
  Kusal Perera was selected for his explosive innings.
• Player of the Series:
  Jacob Duffy was named Player of the Series for his excellent bowling performance.

Upcoming ODI series

After the end of the T20 series, both the teams will now play a three-match ODI International series.

• 1st ODI: 5 January.
• 2nd ODI: 8 January.
• 3rd ODI: 11 January.

This victory of Sri Lanka has strengthened their confidence before the ODI series, and another exciting match is now expected between the two teams.