Martin Guptill, Colin Munro fifties help New Zealand hammer Sri Lanka by 9 wickets in 2nd T20I
Guptill, Munro fifties help New Zealand hammer Sri Lanka by 9 wickets in 2nd T20I
Colin Munro hammered the fastest Twenty20 International (T20I) half-century by New Zealand batsman, as he combined forces with Martin Guptill to help his side pull off comfortable nine-wicket victory over Sri Lanka in the second and final T20I at Auckland on Sunday. Having restricted Sri Lanka to 142 for the loss of eight wickets, New Zealand consumed a mere 10 overs to chase the target down, with the duo of Guptill and Munro tearing the hapless Sri Lankan bowling apart yet again. Sri Lanka were whitewashed 0-2 in the T20I series as a result of the one-sided hammering as they ended their nightmarish tour of New Zealand with another disappointment. Munro hit the winning six, smashing the ball over deep square-leg to bring up his half-century in just 14 balls, with Guptill’s record lasting just 20 minutes. SCORECARD: New Zealand vs Sri Lanka 2015-16, 2nd T20I at Auckland
New Zealand chased the target down in an all-too familiar style, massacring the Sri Lankan bowling attack right from the start of the innings to knock their confidence out. The only opportunity that Sri Lanka had in the second half of the match was when Guptill mis-hit the second ball of the opening over by Isuru Udana, though a scramble and a lack of communication between the fielders at extra-cover saw Guptill being a gifted a second life, the opportunity of which he utilised quite well. UPDATES: New Zealand vs Sri Lanka 2015-16, 2nd T20I at Auckland
During the course of his remarkable innings, Guptill overtook both Mahela Jayawardene (1,493) and JP Duminy (1,528) to finish as the third-highest all-time run-getter in T20Is, with only Brendon McCullum (2,140) and Tillakaratne Dilshan (1,618) having scored more runs than him. Guptill added another feather to his cap when he brought up his half-century in just 19 deliveries, in an encore of his remarkable innings at Christchurch in the second One-Day International (ODI).
His innings came to an abrupt end when he attempted to play a wide-pitched delivery that was pitched at yorker length, getting an edge that flew to wicketkeeper Dinesh Chandimal. Munro arrived at the crease, and got off the mark with a six off the very second delivery that he faced. The rest was pure demolition, as the South African-born batsman demolished the wayward Sri Lankans with seven sixes and a four, breaking Guptill’s record for the fastest T20I fifty just 20 minutes after the latter’s milestone, getting to the mark with a massive six over deep square-leg.
New Zealand were equally decisive with their bowling, and would have restricted the tourists to a total well below 100 had it not been for the brave 81 off 49 balls by Angelo Mathews, who was persistent in his approach and brought up his highest T20I score in the process. The Sri Lanka innings saw all-rounder Grant Elliott outshine the remainder of the Black Caps pace attack — that consisted of Trent Boult, Mitchell McClenagan, etc. — with figures of 4 for 22 in his spell of four overs.
Mathews was the only batsman in the side along with Tillakaratne Dilshan (28 off 26 balls) to get a double-digit score as the remainder of the batting order collapsed spectacularly in a manner that has defined them in their now-concluded tour.
New Zealand earlier won the toss, and put the Sri Lankans to bat in the latter’s final game of the tour. The hosts made two changes to their side, with Mitchell Santner and Adam Milne coming in place of Ish Sodhi and Matt Henry. Meanwhile, Sri Lanka brought in Kithuruwan Vithanage, Dushmantha Chameera and Isuru Udana in place of Chamara Kapudegera, Suranga Lakmal and Nuwan Kulasekara.
Brief scores:
Sri Lanka 142 for 8 in 20 overs (Tillakaratne Dilshan 28, Angelo Mathews 81*; Grant Elliott 4 for 22, Mitchell Santner 2 for 24, Adam Milne 2 for 36) lost to New Zealand 147 for 1 in 10 overs (Martin Guptill 63, Kane Williamson 32*, Colin Munro 50*) by 9 wickets.
(Amit Banerjee, a reporter at CricketCountry, takes keen interest in photography, travelling, technology, automobiles, food and, of course, cricket. He can be followed on Twitter via his handle @akb287)