press trust of india CARDIFF, 9 JUNE: New Zealand pulled off a nail-biting one-wicket victory in a low-scoring Group ‘A’…
press trust of india
CARDIFF, 9 JUNE: New Zealand pulled off a nail-biting one-wicket victory in a low-scoring Group ‘A’ thriller against Sri Lanka ~ who very nearly defended a score of 138 ~ in the ICC Champions Trophy here today.
Chasing a paltry total, New Zealand made heavy weather of their chase as Sri Lanka put up a tremenduous fight on the back of a fiery spell by paceman Lasith Malinga. New Zealand were made to sweat for every run as they huffed and puffed on their way to victory with 13.3 overs to spare at the Sophia Gardens ground. The track was conducive to seam bowling as both sides reaped the benefits with Kyle Mills, Shaminda Eranga and Lasith Malinga extracting a lot of movement off the pitch.
Malinga bowled his heart out to finish with impressive figures of four for 34 from his 10 overs. Earlier, the New Zealand bowlers stuck to a disciplined line to skittle out Sri Lanka for a paltry 138 inside 38 overs, their fifth-lowest total after choosing to bat first. Barring former skipper Kumar Sangakkara who stood tall amidst the ruins, scoring 68 off 87 balls with eight boundaries, others simply didn’t have any clue against the controlled seam bowling of seasoned Kyle Mills (2/14) and young left-arm seamer Mitchell McClenaghan (4/43), who kept cutting short fledgling partnerships. The start for New Zealand was equally disastrous as they lost Luke Ronchi for seven when he was caught by Sangakkara behind the wickets off Eranga. Martin Guptill and Kane Williamson led the recovery for the Black Caps with a 34-run stand for the second wicket and the Kiwis scraped through in the end for a crucial win.
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