Allen 51, Ravindra 49, Mitchell 47, Karunaratne 4-43, Rajitha 2-38, Kumara 2-46, Karunaratne 4-43, Rajitha 2-38, Kumara 2-46) defeated Sri Lanka 76 (Shipley 5-31, Mitchell 2-12, Tickner 2-20) by 198 runs.
In pursuit of a goal of 275, Sri Lanka was dismissed for 76 when Henry Shipley ripped off their top order, finally capturing 5 for 31. Sri Lanka surrendered meekly against the bounce that Shipley, Blair Tickner, and even Daryl Mitchell created on an Eden Park pitch with enough of carry, whilst New Zealand had struggled to 274 all out, with Finn Allen’s 51 being the highest score on their scorecard.
Henry Shipley’s first five-for helps Sri Lanka get blown out of the water.
Several Sri Lankan batsmen were dismissed by the short ball, something the New Zealand batsmen had also struggled with during their innings. Some were discarded because their delivery appeared complete. And the run-out of opener Nuwanidu Fernando, who had charged most of the way down the pitch for a third run despite his partner’s lack of enthusiasm, was the catalyst for the entire debacle.
Only three Sri Lankan batsmen reached double digits, with Angelo Mathews scoring 18 as their highest individual score.
Shipley, a tall bowler whose braced front leg in his delivery stride provides a very high release point, not only generated difficult bounce on a beneficial surface, but also pitched the ball up well. Maybe his greatest delivery came to Pathum Nissanka, whom he bowled through the gate after jabbing the ball from the seam into the batsman. Later, he also induced Dasun Shanaka to edge a fullish delivery to the slips.
Kusal Mendis was hurried into a pull and sent the ball to the fine-leg fielder, Charith Asalanka nicked a wideish short delivery to the keeper, and Chamika Karunaratne was run out late in the game while attempting to smash a pull. This was only Shipley’s fourth ODI and his first five-for in international play. Before to this, he had only three five-fors in List A and first-class cricket.
With his maiden five-for, Henry Shipley leads the thrashing of Sri Lanka.
Tickner and Mitchell both got two wickets, while Matt Henry was unlucky not to take one, given the quality of his bowling and the quickness with which Sri Lanka’s batters appeared to toss away their wickets. Sri Lanka was dismissed in the twentieth over. This was their fifth-lowest score ever and their lowest versus New Zealand.
Mitchell contributed with the bat as well, as his 47 helped New Zealand advance through the middle overs. Allen’s 51 at the top of the innings gave the hosts their energy, as he first flourished against the seamers’ fuller deliveries before smashing successive sixes off Wanindu Hasaranga’s legspin.
Rachin Ravindra’s unspectacular 49 off 52 deliveries was perhaps the most crucial performance of the match, as he kept New Zealand in the game despite the loss of wickets at the other end. With the score at 152 for 5 in the 30th over, he and Glenn Phillips pieced together the game’s lone fifty-run partnership, scoring 66 runs off 59 balls.
Phillips was run out while attempting to hit Dilshan Madushanka over the square-leg boundary, and Ravindra proceeded to amass runs with the tail after his dismissal. Before he holed out, he smashed four fours and a six – a regular dismissal for the New Zealand hitters, who continued trying to clear the short straight boundary but were pushed to do so by Sri Lanka’s bowlers’ use of shorter lengths. New Zealand did not utilise the final three deliveries of their innings.
While Sri Lanka lacked tenacity with the bat, they demonstrated tenacity on the field and with the ball. Chamika Karunaratne relied on short-pitched deliveries to achieve a career-best 4-for-43 off of nine overs. Lahiru Kumara was quick and aggressive as he got two wickets for 46 runs, while Kasun Rajitha also took two wickets. Sri Lanka seized the opportunities that presented itself.
Sri Lanka’s automatic qualifying to this year’s World Cup is doubtful in light of this loss. If South Africa wins their last two matches against the Netherlands and Ireland wins their remaining three games, they will each earn 98 Super League points (assuming no over-rate penalties), a total that Sri Lanka cannot reach even with two wins over New Zealand.