Sri Lanka suffer a big loss after being bowled out for 76

 

 

•  Last updated on Sat, Mar 25, 2023, 01:50 PM

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Shipley picked up 5-31
Shipley picked up 5-31 © AFP
Led by Henry Shipley's fifer, New Zealand bundled out Sri Lanka for 76 - their fifth lowest ODI total (and the lowest total against New Zealand) at Eden Park in Auckland, to secure a commanding 198-run win in the first ODI.

The visitors never turned up in the chase, with their top half blown away in the first 10 overs itself, with Shipley bagging four of those wickets and Nuwindu Fernando getting run out when he attempted a third run but was left stranded in the middle by his partner Pathum Nissanka. Nuwindu's dismissal at the start of the third over opened the floodgates for Sri Lanka's collapse.

Nissanka was cleaned up in the next over, while Kusal Mendis - who had struggled to get off the mark in the first 15 balls, attempted a reverse cup only to find the fine leg fielder. In the 10th over, Shipley struck twice off successive deliveries. Asalanka's attempted cut to a short delivery caught the outside edge to the 'keeper, and Dasun Shanaka's hard drive to a full delivery caught the edge to the slip fielder.


The flurry of wickets continued as Sri Lanka struggled to stitch a partnership. Once Shipley was taken off the attack, Daryl Mitchell and Blair Tickner picked a brace each as only three Sri Lankan batters managed to register double-digit scores - Angelo Mathews (18), Chamika Karunaratne (11) and Lahiru Kumara (10). Shipley returned to the attack to dismiss Karunaratne - who mistimed a pull to deep square leg - and bag his fifer.

The batter should have dismissed in the previous over itself when Tickner had run him out. However, the bails didn't light up on being dislodged and the third umpire having his hands tied with the rules was forced to rule Karunaratne not out. The reason for the bail not to have lit up - whether it ran out of battery or not - remains uncertain.

Earlier in the day, Sri Lanka had elected to bowl after winning the toss. However, they struggled to make early inroads - barring the dismissal of debutant Chad Bowes who fell after a brisk start. Led by Finn Allen's 49-ball 51, New Zealand maintained a decent tempo to their innings even if they didn't necessarily string big partnerships, the highest being a 66-run stand between Glenn Phillips (39-ball 42) and Rachin Ravindra (52-ball 49) for the sixth wicket.

Placed at 218 for 5 at the start of the 39th over, New Zealand struggled to pace up in the death over. Kasun Rajitha, Lahiru Kumara and Chamika Karunaratne bowled stingily and conceded only 56 runs in the last 10.3 overs to bundle out the hosts for 274, with Karunaratne returning a four-fer.

Brief Scores: New Zealand 274 in 49.3 overs (Finn Allen 51, Rachin Ravindra 49; Chamika Karunaratne 4-43, Kasun Rajitha 2-38) beat Sri Lanka 76 in 19.5 overs (Angelo Mathews 18; Henry Shipley 5-31, Daryl Mitchell 2-12) by 198 runs