Target of 256 in 37 overs, victory seemed sure, but New Zealand played the band of Sri Lanka

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New Delhi. The New Zealand team, which made a clean sweep in India, has now started playing the Sri Lankan band. The host team has given a crushing defeat to Sri Lanka in the second consecutive ODI match.
New Zealand gave a target of 256 runs to Sri Lanka in the second ODI. In response, the visiting team was all out after scoring 142 runs. This is the second consecutive ODI match, when New Zealand bowled out Sri Lanka within 200 runs. In the first ODI, they bowled out Sri Lanka for 178 runs and won the match by 9 wickets. With winning the second ODI, New Zealand has taken an unassailable 2-0 lead in the 3-match series.

The second ODI between Sri Lanka and New Zealand was played in Hamilton on Wednesday. Due to rain this match started late and hence it was reduced to 37-37 overs. Batting first in the match, New Zealand scored 255 runs for 9 wickets. From his side, opener Rachin Ravindra scored the maximum 79 runs. Mark Chapman, who came at number three, also played an excellent inning of 62 runs. Both of them put their team in a strong position by making a partnership of 112 runs in 91 balls. After this, Daryl Mitchell (38), Glenn Phillips (22) and captain Mitchell Santner (20) helped New Zealand reach 255 runs. For Sri Lanka, Mahish Tikshina took maximum 4 wickets.

In this era of cricket, 200 runs are chased in T20 matches. In such a situation, the target of 256 runs in 37 overs cannot be considered very difficult. But New Zealand made it impossible by giving continuous shocks to Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka’s first three batsmen Pathum Nissanka (1), Avishka Fernando (10) and Kusal Mendis (2) returned to the pavilion by the time the team’s score reached 18. At number four, Kamindu Mendis (64) struggled a bit but no other batsman could stay at the crease even for an hour. As a result, Sri Lankan team collapsed for 142 runs in 30.2 overs. For New Zealand, Will Orook took 3 wickets and Jack Duffy took 2 wickets. Matt Henry, Nathan Smith and Mitchell Santner got one wicket each. Two batsmen were run out.