Sri Lanka has won another home series against New Zealand. The team won the second ODI match played in Pallekele on Sunday, 17 November by 3 wickets. With this win, the team has taken an unassailable lead of 2-0 in the 3-match series. The last match will be played on the same ground on 19 November. The Sri Lankan team clean swept New Zealand 2-0 in the Test series in September. Whereas, New Zealand clean swept the Indian team 3-0 in its own home last month. Sri Lanka won the toss of this rain-affected match and invited the Kiwis to bat. The New Zealand team was all out for 209 runs in 45.1 overs. The team had scored 37 runs for two wickets in 9 overs, when it rained and the game had to be stopped. The game was stopped for about 35 minutes. In such a situation, Sri Lanka was given a revised target of 210 runs in 47 overs, which the host team achieved for 7 wickets in 46 overs. Kusal Mendis was the player of the match. He played an unbeaten innings of 74 runs on 102 balls. Not only this, he also caught 2 catches. Kiwis’ top order failed, Chapman’s fifty
New Zealand, who came to bat after losing the toss, had a bad start. The team lost the first wicket on 9 runs. Here Tim Robinson was out after scoring 4 runs. He was bowled by Dunith Vellalaage on the fourth ball of the second over. Henry Nicholas (8 runs), who came at number-3, could not score much. He became a victim of sharpness. After losing the second wicket on 31 runs, Will Young and Mark Chapman took over the innings. But this pair did not stay on the field for long. Young was stumped on the ball of Jeffrey Vandersay on a personal score of 26 runs. Mark Chapman’s fifty, fifty partnership with Hay
After Young was out, Glenn Phillips (15 runs) was sent to the pavilion by Charith Aslanka. In this way, the team’s score became 98/4. From here, Mark Chapman shared a 75-run partnership with Michael Hay for the 5th wicket in 78 balls. Chapman played an innings of 76 runs in 81 balls. His innings included 7 fours and 3 sixes. Hay scored 49 runs in 62 balls. Theekshana and Vandersay took 3-3 wickets
For Sri Lanka, Mahesh Theekshana and Jeffrey Vandersay took 3-3 wickets. Asitha Fernando got 2 wickets. Dunith Vellalaage and Charith Asalanka got one wicket each. Kusal Mendis’s fifty
The start of the Sri Lankan team chasing the target of 210 runs was also not special. The team lost the first wicket at 23 runs and the second wicket at 41 runs. In this way, Kusal Mendis led the team to victory by playing an unbeaten innings of 74 runs in 102 balls. His innings included 6 fours. Kamindu got out on zero, Samarawickrama also did not perform
The middle order of the Sri Lankan team could not perform effectively. Kamindu Mendis, who came at number four, got out on zero, Charith Asalanka on 13 and Sadeera Samarawickrama on 8 runs. At one time the team had lost 5 wickets on 93 runs. Lower order brought victory, Bracewell got 4 wickets
After half the team returned to the pavilion, in the lower order Janith Liyanage scored 22, Dunith Vellalaage scored 18 and Maheesh Theekshana scored an unbeaten 27 runs to give the team victory. From New Zealand’s side, Michael Bracewell got out 4 batsmen. He sent Pathum Nissanka, Kamindu Mendis, Asalanka and Vellalaage to the pavilion. Mitchell Santner, Glenn Phillips and Nathan Smith got one wicket each.
