New Zealand seals dramatic win over Sri Lanka to say T20 sequence

Opening batsman Tim Seifert’s blistering 88 helped New Zealand defeat Sri Lanka by 4 wickets of their thrilling third and remaining Twenty20 worldwide in Queenstown on Saturday to finish a 2-1 sequence victory.

Seifert’s brutal assault on Sri Lanka’s bowlers throughout his 48-ball knock included 10 fours and three sixes as New Zealand cruised for a lot of their chase of 183, however a dramatic remaining over when three wickets fell ensured a nervy end.

The 28-year-old, whose unbeaten 79 arrange a nine-wicket win within the second recreation, missed out on a maiden century after falling to Pramod Madushan within the seventeenth over with New Zealand wanting snug with 154 on the board.

Sri Lanka fought again from there and with New Zealand needing 10 within the remaining over, Mark Chapman smashed Lahiru Kumara for a six earlier than being caught at cowl.

Jimmy Neesham was then run out off the subsequent ball and Daryl Mitchell additionally departed however Rachin Ravindra ensured there can be no Super Over drama as within the first match by holding his nerve to take his aspect house.

“We got ahead of the run rate and sometimes you do go down the gears a bit,” Seifert mentioned. “It’s a balance. The over I got out was the one we were going to target to get 10 or 20 runs.

“And we saw later that it takes only a couple of wickets for the bowling side to get back into the game as well.”

The host had defeated Sri Lanka in each the previous check and one-day worldwide sequence by 2-0 margins.

New Zealand requested Sri Lanka to bat first after profitable the toss and openers Pathum Nissanka (25) and Kusal Mendis (73) needed to overcome some difficult swing bowling within the first six overs to put a strong platform.

Dropped on 10 by Mitchell at slip, wicketkeeper Mendis went on to punish New Zealand in his 48-ball effort that contained six fours and 5 sixes because the 28-year-old reached his twelfth half-century within the firm of Kusal Perera (33).

Dhananjaya de Silva and skipper Dasun Shanaka each made good begins after the pair had departed however the vacationers have been unable to place New Zealand to the sword on the finish of the innings and fell wanting a match-winning whole.

“We were 10 to 15 runs short,” mentioned Shanaka. “That was the main lack, on the batting side. New Zealand did really well in the series.”