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.
Charith Asalanka Knock Seals Four-Wicket Sri Lanka Win Over New Zealand In 1st T20I
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 capitalise against the second-string visiting team.
But a crucial 38-run stand for the sixth wicket between Asalanka and Wanindu Hasaranga steadied the ship and inched the team to victory. “Overall it is a good win,” Asalanka said. “We should have restricted them to 110 or 120 but they did well with the lower order.”
Most runs for Sri Lanka in T20Is:
1 – Kusal Perera: 1904 runs in 73 matches
2 – Tillakaratne Dilshan: 1889 runs in 80 matches
3 – Kusal Mendis: 1840 runs in 74 matches
4 – Pathum Nissanka: 1541 runs in 58 matches
5 – Mahela Jayawardene: 1493 runs in 55 matches
New Zealand’s high-flying winning run also came to a halt with this loss. They recently achieved the unthinkable and whitewashed India at the latter’s home in a Test series. While only a handful of members of that squad were in the T20I series against the Lankan Lions, they came to the island nation high on confidence.
