FORT LAUDERDALE, FLORIDA: Sri Lanka beat New Zealand by seven wickets in the second of two Twenty20 internationals to level the series 1-1.
The 2009 World Twenty20 runners-up triumphed in a lowscoring affair with more than four overs to spare as batting suffered again with only 167 runs scored in the two innings. Nuwan Kulasekara tore through New Zealand’s top order, taking three wickets in the second over as he removed openers Brendon McCullum and Aaron Redmond along with Rob Nicol. Ross Taylor and Gareth Hopkins did not last long either as New Zealand were reduced to an embarrassing 13 for five.
Daniel Vettori and Nathan McCullum were the only batsmen to reach double figures, but the 81 posted by New Zealand posed little challenge for Sri Lanka even on the slow, lifeless pitch.
Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara said, “That’s one of the subtleties of cricket, that a low-scoring game can be exciting if you analyse it properly.” His counterpart Vettori was however, looking forward to the next series, “We are going to use this break to improve so that when we go to Sri Lanka we’re ready to win.”
Published in the Express Tribune, May 25th, 2010.
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