New Zealand's Tim Seifert
©AFP
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New Zealand vs Sri Lanka, 2nd T20I: New Zealand crush Sri Lanka by 9 wickets
New Zealand beat Sri Lanka by 9 wickets, in the second T20I, to level the series, on Wednesday, as opener Tim Seifert finished on 79 not out.
Match Summary
New Zealand 146/1 (14.4 ov)
Sri Lanka 141/10 (19 ov)
Result - New Zealand won by 9 wickets
A dominant display by New Zealand sees them level the T20I series at 1-1 in Dunedin ??#NZvSL | ?? Scorecard: https://t.co/EYcTblVNtH pic.twitter.com/26gPmT2131
— ICC (@ICC) April 5, 2023
"You always dream of taking five wickets for New Zealand. As I had three in the last over with a couple of tailenders in, I started feeling a little bit greedy," Milne later admitted.
Seifert then helped steer New Zealand to victory as the hosts hit a rapid-fire 146-1 in reply after 14.4 overs.
New Zealand captain Tom Latham hailed his side's "pretty clinical performance".
"The way we were just able to keep taking wickets, that's the best way really to stall a run rate," he added.
"I thought our bowling performance was outstanding."
New Zealand's victory in Dunedin levelled the series 1-1 ahead of the decider this Saturday in Queenstown.
Sri Lanka had won the opening T20 match last Sunday in Auckland.
Milne's impressive bowling display left New Zealand with a target of 142 to win.
Opener Chad Bowes was caught after hitting 31 off 15 balls before Seifert peppered the boundary in a partnership of 106 alongside Latham, who finished 20 not out.
Seifert then wrapped up New Zealand's innings in style with two towering sixes.
It was a brutal defeat for Sri Lanka, who had made a good start.
Kusal Perera (35) and Dhananjaya de Silva (37) put on a middle-order partnership of 62 off 46 balls to steer the visitors to 99-4 after 12 overs.
The tourists then collapsed by losing their next six wickets for just 42 runs as New Zealand's seamers found their length to devastating effect.
Charith Asalanka was the last Sri Lankan batter to offer any resistance, chalking up 24 runs off 19 balls.
Milne did the most damage for New Zealand, picking off Sri Lanka's tailenders Dilshan Madushanka and Pramod Madushan without a run being scored.
"We got a good start but lost the momentum in the middle," said Sri Lanka captain Dasun Shanaka, who paid credit to Milne's superb bowling.
"Losing wickets at regular intervals cost us the game."
Sri Lanka have lost both the Test and one-day international series 2-0 during their month-long tour of New Zealand.
Playing XIs
New Zealand - Chad Bowes, Tim Seifert, Tom Latham(c)(wk), Daryl Mitchell, Mark Chapman, Jimmy Neesham, Rachin Ravindra, Adam Milne, Henry Shipley, Ish Sodhi, Ben Lister
Sri Lanka - Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Mendis(wk), Kusal Perera, Dhananjaya de Silva, Charith Asalanka, Dasun Shanaka(c), Wanindu Hasaranga, Maheesh Theekshana, Pramod Madushan, Kasun Rajitha, Dilshan Madushanka
Match Details
Date 2023-04-05 01:00:00
Venue University Oval, Dunedin, Dunedin
Toss New Zealand elected to bowl
Umpires - Kim Cotton (New Zealand), Wayne Knights (New Zealand), Chris Brown (New Zealand TV)
Match Referee - Jeff Crowe (New Zealand)
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