Adam Milne’s five-wicket haul and Tim Seifert’s unbeaten 79 arrange New Zealand’s nine-wicket victory within the second Twenty20 International towards Sri Lanka on Wednesday, with the match additionally incomes feminine umpire Kim Cotton a spot in historical past.
Seifert smashed six sixes in his 43-ball blitz as New Zealand romped dwelling with 5.2 overs to spare to degree the three-match collection and achieve a psychological edge forward of Saturday’s decider in Queenstown.
Auckland-born Cotton turned the primary feminine umpire to face in a males’s worldwide match between two International Cricket Council full-member nations.
Earlier, Milne claimed a career-best 5-26 to assist bowl out Sri Lanka for 141 in 19 overs, which proved below-par at Dunedin’s University Oval, which has comparatively quick boundaries.
Sri Lanka misplaced its openers cheaply and after Kusal Perera (35), Dhananjaya de Silva (37) and Charith Asalanka (24) shored it up, the wheels got here off its innings within the second half.
Sri Lanka, which had received the opening match on Sunday by way of Super Over, misplaced its final eight wickets for 50 runs with Milne claiming three within the closing over.
New Zealand’s chase bought off to a blazing begin with Chad Bowes (31) hitting Dilshan Madushanka for 4 boundaries within the second over, together with three in a row, throwing the seamer out of the assault.
Seifert ensured there was no respite for the vacationer even after Bowes fell as he tore into the Sri Lankan assault, sealing New Zealand’s victory with back-to-back sixes.
Sri Lanka’s sloppy catching didn’t assist its trigger both because it dropped each Seifert and residential captain Tom Latham, who remained unbeaten on 20.
Source: sportstar.thehindu.com