RESULT
27th Match, Group 1 (N), Sydney, October 29, 2022, ICC Men's T20 World Cup
(19.2/20 ov, T:168) 102

New Zealand won by 65 runs

Player Of The Match
104 (64)
glenn-phillips
Cricinfo's MVP
182.61 ptsImpact List
glenn-phillips
Updated 29-Oct-2022 • Published 29-Oct-2022

As it happened - New Zealand vs Sri Lanka, Men's T20 World Cup 2022, Sydney

By Andrew Fidel Fernando

It's all over.

New Zealand ABSOLUTELY dominate, having been 30 for 3 after seven overs, they've racked up a 65-run win. No one is going to catch their Net Run Rate. You wouldn't bet against them topping the group either.
It was spectacular bowling from Tim Southee and Trent Boult, who together took five wickets for 25 runs from their eight overs. Crazy.
Sri Lanka, meanwhile, are going to seriously struggle to make the semi-final now. They've got matches against England and Afghanistan left, and even if they win both, they will end up with a maximum of six points, which seems unlikely to be enough.
Glenn Phillips had set the game up, of course, with his brutal 104 off 64, which propelled New Zealand to 167 for 7 after they'd lost their first three wickets for 15.
As good as Phillips was, though, this was probably the key period in the match.
Our full report will come soon.
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Boult gets best-ever figures

Having taken three wickets in the first two overs of his spell, Trent Boult finished with his best figures ever, getting Sri Lanka captain Dasun Shanaka caught at deep square leg.
Boult's best T20I figures, beating his previous best 3 for 34.
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Glenn Phillips' readysetgo

This Sri Lanka innings is a massive moodhoover (currently at 84 for 8 after 15.3 bleurgh), so there's no point even talking about it.
But this was unusual and cool, from Glenn Phillips, who is the most extra cricketer in this New Zealand team (I point you again to his superbly theatrical celebration). With the likes of Cricinfo's Peter Della Penna now keeping serious tabs on non-strikers who stray out of the crease early in the wake of Charlie Dean v Deepti Sharma, Phillips has found a new tactic.
He's getting into a sprinter's crouch at the non-strikers' and leaving as the bowler delivers the ball. Glorious.
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What's the thing beyond a miracle?

A UFO abducts half the New Zealand team, and the match referee for some reason insists the game must go on?
Kane Williamson is overtaken by pangs of world-beating niceness, and instructs his bowlers to deliver lob only shin-high full tosses, given the year Sri Lanka's been through.
Kasun Rajitha uses force powers to send ball after ball into the stands. (Disney, please raise my salary for referencing proprietary intellectual property.)
...Because Bhanuka Rajapaksa is out mis-hitting one to mid off, having threatened an unlikely recovery with his 34 off 22. And now Wanindu Hasaranga is gone cheaply, leaving the score at 64 for 7.
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If you missed Glenn Phillips' innings..

... it was great. But this celebration was even better. 10/10 neck veins, would neck vein again.
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Boult's three overs in the powerplay

Absolute magic. Three wickets. Eleven runs. New Zealand with a firm grip on this match.
Second over
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Fourth over:
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Sixth over:
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15
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Sri Lanka in miracle-needing territory

Charith Asalanka slices a full delivery wide of off to Finn Allen at backward point, who takes a nice low catch. End of the fourth over, they were yet to make double figures. And had lost four wickets.
Bhanuka Rajapaksa hits a couple of boundaries in the next over, but 168 seems light-years away for Sri Lanka right now.
They've also promoted Chamika Karunaratne way up the order which is a fascinating move.
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New Zealand crushing it in the first thre

Three wickets. One boundary. A couple of singles. One which would have been a run out if there was a direct hit.
W
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10
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Mendis goes too! And then DDeS

Uh oh. This is terrible for Sri Lanka, who are very reliant on their openers. And who need Kusal Mendis - their best batter in the tournament so far - to produce for them. Mendis flays the first, wide Boult ball for four, but two balls later, Boult pitches it up, and Mendis isn't in a good position to play a ball that does not swing back at him. There's an outside edge, and the keeper gobbles it up.
Before I can finish typing this Dhananjaya de Silva chops a tight Trent Boult ball back on to his stumps as well, so Sri Lanka are 5 for 3. In disarray here.
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Perfect first over from Southee

A wicket-maiden to start! Incredible. There was shape away, then balls angled in at the stumps. Pathum Nissanka, having been frustrated at not being able to get a shot away, tries to go across the line and launch Southee over leg, and gets hit on the back leg, in front of the stumps. New Zealand bossed the last 13 overs of their innings, and have bossed the first one here.
W
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New Zealand surge to 167

What a spectacular batting performance from New Zealand, after having been just 25 off 3 after the powerplay. Phillips is out in the last over, but they'd hit 137 off the last 78 balls of the innings, with Phillips doing most of the heavy lifting, with his 104 off 64. He had been dropped twice in the long off region. The first one was a sitter, even for a 12 year old. The second was much tougher.
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Phillips gets to triple figures in style

He spots a long hop from Maheesh Theekshana in the 19th over, leans back, and murders it square of the wicket on the legside, screaming at the top of his lungs the moment he hit it. His is only the second T20I hundred for New Zealand in a T20 World Cup. Incredible innings, after New Zealand had been 15 for 3, and completely lost in the powerplay. He's used his strength to muscle balls over the boundary.
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Sri Lanka running behind on time

They've only got a few minutes to finish their 20 overs, and they've got two more to go.
It doesn't help that Kasun Rajitha bowls two successive no-balls in the 18th over.
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Glenn Phillips in monster mode

He's up to 86 off 52 balls now. And he murdered two Maheesh Theekshana deliveries in that over, first pumping him over wide long off, before backing off and basically bullying Theekshana into the sightscreen.
The runs Phillips has scored so far since being dropped in the sixth over.
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Hasaranga makes a good comeback

Having been blasted for 53 off three overs against Australia, Hasaranga needed a good outing here.
He got one. 22 for 1 off four overs. It could have been better, had catches been held.
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Hasaranga gets Mitchell in his last over

It's a googly (what else?) that deceives the batter, who tries to murder this over the legside, but misses. It spins into leg stump, and Sri Lanka have finally broken a partnership, and got rid of a potentially dangerous batter.
New Zealand have more firepower to come, though, so there's a lot more work from Sri Lanka's perspective.
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New Zealand plunder 18 from the 14th over

And now they are up at a pretty solid 94 for 3 after 14 overs. Phillips, who should have been out for 12 off 15, is now 58 off 42. They could be looking at 160+ here, if they bat well.
64 The number of runs New Zealand scored, without any wickets falling, between overs 7 and 14.
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Sri Lanka drop Phillips again!

The fielding has been atrocious in this innings, just as it was for Sri Lanka in their previous match, against Australia.
This time, Dasun Shanaka can't hold on to a tough chance, running forward at full tilt from long off.
In the previous overs, there were several miss fields and fumbles, allowing second runs where New Zealand should not have had them.
8 The number of dropped catches in Sri Lanka's T20 World Cup campaign so far. Only Ireland have more, with 9.
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No one does smouldering looks quite like Chamika Karunaratne

This happened during the last ball of the tenth over.
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Are NZ recovering?

Well, kinda. They haven't lost any more wickets. And in the four overs after the end of the powerplay, they've mustered 29 runs, to get the team to 54 for 3 at the halfway stage.
Sri Lanka loosened their grip on New Zealand's collar through this period, and Phillips and Mitchell have got starts. How much will that dropped catch hurt?
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Nissanka drops a sitter!

Glenn Phillips tries to launch a Wanindu Hasaranga googly over long off but mis-hits it. The fielder there, Pathum Nissanka, should have eeeeeasily pouched this. It was essentially right into his lap. But he somehow gets his hands in the wrong place, and lets it bounce out. That's a bad drop. A terrible one.
Hasaranga is on his haunches. A wicket would have done his confidence good after the beating he took at the hands of Australia.
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Excellent powerplay for Sri Lanka

As mamy wickets in it as boundaries, which is always a good time for the bowling team. NZ went at a paltry 4.11 while fielding restrictions were in place.
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1lb
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Sri Lanka absolutely rocking it

This is a length ball outside off from Kasun Rajitha, in the fourth over. Williamson throws his hands at it, and gets an outside edge to this one, which Kusal Mendis takes comfortably in front of his face. This is some start for Sri Lanka, after been having made to bowl first on what seems like an excellent batting track.
New Zealand have to rebuild now. But they absolutely cannot afford another wicket in the powerplay. And as Ben points out here, this is all before Wanindu Hasaranga has even come to the crease. You suspect the Sydney track will be much more to his liking than Perth.
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Spectacular start for Sri Lanka

Dhananjaya de Silva, second ball of the third over, slows one up, angles it from around the wicket, and slides it on with the arm. Conway was looking to launch that over extra cover, but had to wait for the ball, and lost his balance a little bit. The ball hits off stump again, and New Zealand have lost the openers that were so effective for them in their first game of the tournament.
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Theekshana swings it into Finn Allen's off stump

Finn Allen, who had blasted 42 off 16 to launch New Zealand's innings into high gear against Australia, can't make an impact this time.
This ball comes out of the front of Theekshana's hand, and it swings late, in the air. Allen's back trying to cut it, but it keeps coming in with the swing, pitches outside off, and by the time it gets to him, Allen's in a bad place to play it. He misses, Theekshana hits. He's so good in the powerplay Theekshana, but that's usually because of his economy. This time he's got an important wicket
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1

While we wait for the first ball, read this piece on Trent Boult and Tim Southee, who are in their twilight you'd think, from Andrew McGlashan.
Through this tournament, we're picking the best moments from the games with our video experts in a daily show. And if you want to actually own a piece of those moments, they are available as digital memorabilia on FanCraze, ESPNcricinfo's digital collectible partners. On FanCraze, you can pre-buy iconic moments from each match of the World Cup called the Crictos of the Game.
3

One change each

Sri Lanka no longer have Binura Fernando (out of the World Cup with a hamstring injury), so they've brought in Kasun Rajitha, perhaps because of his height, and the bounce he may get on Australian tracks. This means Pramod Madushan misses out.
New Zealand, meanwhile, have brought back Daryll Mitchell for Mark Chapman.
1

Vanakkam. Kia Ora. Ayubowan.

Welcome to the first sunny day in Australia in what seems like a month, as New Zealand and Sri Lanka square off in a crucial Group 1 encounter.
News from the toss is that Kane Williamson has won it, and opted to bat first. No surprises there. Sydney is the most high-scoring venue of this tournament so far, and runs on the board is what teams prefer on such tracks. Sri Lanka would have batted first too.
Followers in the US can watch this game live on ESPN+ in English and in Hindi
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Language
English
Win Probability
NZ 100%
NZSL
100%50%100%NZ InningsSL Innings

Over 20 • SL 102/10

Lahiru Kumara st †Conway b Sodhi 4 (5b 1x4 0x6 10m) SR: 80
W
New Zealand won by 65 runs
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ICC Men's T20 World Cup

First Round Group A
TEAMMWLPTNRR
SL32140.667
NED3214-0.162
NAM31220.730
UAE3122-1.235
First Round Group B
TEAMMWLPTNRR
ZIM32140.200
IRE32140.105
SCOT31220.304
WI3122-0.563
Group 1
TEAMMWLPTNRR
NZ53172.113
ENG53170.473
AUS5317-0.173
SL5234-0.422
IRE5133-1.615
AFG5032-0.571
Group 2
TEAMMWLPTNRR
IND54181.319
PAK53261.028
SA52250.874
NED5234-0.849
BAN5234-1.176
ZIM5133-1.138