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In a crackling match between New Zealand and Sri Lanka which went to a tie, the Lankans emerged victorious after a one-over eliminator in the 1st T-20 match at Eden Park in Auckland, New Zealand on Sunday.
With this win, Sri Lanka is 1-0 up in the three-match series. Batting first, Sri Lanka put in a high score of 196 losing 5 wickets which New Zealand tied with the comprehensive performance of NZ batters Daryl Mitchell's 66 off 44 balls & Mark Chapman's 33 off 23 balls and effective 10 runs off 4 runs by all-rounder Ish Sodhi in the end. New Zealand won the toss and they opted to field, batting first, Lanka lost their wicket in the first ball of the match. Recovering from the loss, batter Kusal Perera's 53 (45) & Charith Asalanka's 67 (41) steered the innings. With batter Wanindu Hasaranga de Silva's speedy 21 runs off 11 balls, Lanka were able to put up a score of 196/5. Kiwis' bowling unit failed to deliver as they were expensive. All-rounder James Neesham gave the best performance for NZ picking up 2 wickets with a run rate of 7.50. To chase down a massive total, NZ lost their 2 wickets at the beginning of the innings in just 2 overs. Daryl Mitchell stabilised the inings with his 66 runs off 44 balls. Even though Ish Sodhi came in the death over hit some boundaries but was not able to cross the score as Sri Lanka kept taking wickets in small intervals. Knocks from Chapman and Rachin Ravindra (26) came in handy to keep NZ alive in the match. Sodhi hit Shanaka for a six on final ball of the innings to tie the match. The match went to super over, from NZ's Kiwis scored 8 runs with the loss of 2 wickets which Sri Lankans chased down in 2 balls of the super over. In-form batter Asalanka came to bat and ended the game with a six and a four in a no-ball. With this win, Sri Lanka leads the 3-match T-20 series by 1-0 against New Zealand. The next match will be played on 5th April in Dunedin, New Zealand. Brief scores: Sri Lanka 196/5 in 20 overs (Charith Asalanka 67, Kusal Perera 53, Wanindu Hasaranga de Silva 2/30) wins against New Zealand 196/8 (Daryl Mitchell 66, Mark Chapman 33, James Neesham 2/30). Sri Lanka won the one-over eliminator. (ANI)
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