NZ Women vs SL Women, 17th Match, Group 1 at Paarl, WT20 WC, Feb 19 2023 - Ball by Ball Commentary

9.55 pm New Zealand have eliminated Sri Lanka from semifinal contention, having won by such a wide margin that they easily surpass them on net run rate. They needed to hold Sri Lanka to 123 or less and bowled them out for less than half of that. So all eyes are on the South Africa v Bangladesh match on Tuesday. A win for South Africa and they clinch the second semifinal spot from Group 1 on equal points with Sri Lanka and New Zealand but with a vastly superior net run rate. A loss to Bangladesh and it will be New Zealand who sneak into the semifinals through the back door.

Amelia Kerr is named Player of the Match: "It was just nice to have a performance and get a big win there for the team. It was a tough start to the tournament so to get the win is awesome. I think I've been light on runs so it was nice to spend some time in the middle and bat with Suzie, who is a class act. With the ball at the moment, it feels like it's coming out really well. I'm loving bowling even more than I have before. We thought it was a pretty tough wicket and the ball was keeping low so we just focused on playing straight and looking for twos first and then boundaries."

Sri Lanka captain Chamari Athapaththu: "It's a little tough day in the middle. As a bowling unit, we had to get some wickets earlier. 140 was a good score to chase, but they scored 160+ so it was not easy to chase. As a batting unit, we had to play positive shots but we lost wickets early. [Asked if the pressure got to the team] The game plan did not come together. Some players felt some pressure in the middle. As a captain, they need some experience. I have only a few senior players in the team. A lot of girls are very young girls and they have not played a lot of cricket and don't have the experience for this kind of game. If we take too much pressure on our shoulders, the result comes like this. We played good cricket this tournament beating South Africa and Bangladesh and played good cricket against Australia. Today is a very tough day but we learned a lot of things and hopefully will carry that into the future."

New Zealand captain Sophie Devine: "I wish this was our first game of the tournament but it's not to me. After that second match I said I felt embarrassed. I just feel extreme pride right now in the group to bounce back in the way that we have. We've given ourselves a chance. Even if it's a tiny, small chance, we're still in with a shout so I'm really proud of this group. [On Suzie Bates] Especially the way that we played the last game, it can be easy to think it's just going to roll into the next game, but for her to build such a great partnership with Bernie was outstanding. We spoke about 160 and knew this wicket was tougher than the Newlands wicket so the bowlers did outstanding. The first game of the tournament with Sri Lanka upsetting South Africa laid the platform for shocks and upsets. Australia are still winning so that's pretty boring but the women's game, the competitiveness is what we want. It's so awesome to see the likes of Ireland coming along and really start to trouble teams, Pakistan and Bangladesh, that's exactly what we want as female cricketers, for anyone to be able to beat anyone on any given day. The support that this whole tournament has had has been outstanding. The singing and dancing really adds to it so we love the support."

That's it for today's live coverage. Come back tomorrow for the India against Ireland. A win for India will clinch a semifinal berth for them. Otherwise a loss will leave the door open for Pakistan on the final day of group play on Tuesday against England. Then, the final match of group play on Tuesday night sees South Africa playing for a semifinal berth against Bangladesh while New Zealand watches on earnestly. Until tomorrow, take care!

Reminder that Kulasuriya left the field on a stretcher and there's no word on her being able to bat so this may be effectively the last wicket partnership for Sri Lanka.