Pallekele: New Zealand (174-7) lost to Sri Lanka (174-6). Match tied – Sri Lanka win the 'Super Over'.
The closest game of the tournament so far ended with Sri Lanka beating New Zealand by dint of conceding fewer runs off their 'super over' after the scores were level after 20 overs.
Batting first, Sri Lanka made 13 runs off the extra over bowled by Tim Southee, who conceded three of those runs in wides.
In response, New Zealand managed just eight after Martin Guptill was brilliantly caught by Tillakaratne Dilshan on the long-off boundary from the penultimate ball, a shot that might have brought six had he not intervened.
It was a fitting climax for Dilshan whose brilliant 76 from 53 balls in the match proper had brought Sri Lanka within sight of victory. But, just as New Zealand’s batsmen had done in the initial skirmish, they lost momentum after Southee got his yorkers working.
With Dilshan out in the 19th over, it was left to Angelo Mathews and Lahiru Thirimanne to get eight off the last and, after Thirimanne had scooped the penultimate ball outrageously for four over short fine leg, one run off the final ball.
A wild swipe, saw the ball trickle out to cover off the inside edge where James Franklin had time to take aim at the bowlers end, as Ross Taylor, New Zealand’s captain, positioned himself behind the stumps there.
Franklin’s throw missed the stumps and Taylor failed to gather the ball cleanly, but somehow a bail had come off before Thirimanne had made his ground with a despairing dive.
Taylor felt he must have knocked it off with his fingers and shook hands with the batsman, conceding Sri Lanka had win the game.
But umpire Simon Taufel had called for TV replay and after the third umpire had replayed it over several angles, and after England and the West Indies had rushed on to the field to start their warm-ups (they were playing the next match), the players returned to play out the super over.
It was a popular win with the noisy local crowd, who screamed their approval at the outcome of the super over. For New Zealand, who should perhaps have scored 15-20 runs more in the main game, it will be another disappointment.
They’d twice looked in control during the match, with bat and ball, only to squander their position. One day they will play a seamless match, but until then, they will have to get used to disappointments like this.
Edited By Cen Fox Post Team
