New Zealand's spin strangle eliminates Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka won the toss and opted to field first in their Super Eight clash against New Zealand in Colombo. However, they were subjected to a spin-choke, crashing out of the T20 World Cup at the R. Premadasa Stadium. Rachin Ravindra emerged as an unlikely hero with the ball, taking four wickets with his left-arm spin.

New Zealand started briskly but lost early wickets. Maheesh Theekshana dismissed Finn Allen with a diving catch off his own bowling, and Tim Seifert fell soon after. Ravindra and Glenn Phillips then consolidated before accelerating. Ravindra targeted the straight boundary off Dushan Hemantha, hitting a four and a six. However, Dushmantha Chameera cleaned up Phillips the next ball, triggering a collapse. Theekshana removed Ravindra and Mark Chapman in three deliveries, and Dunith Wellalage castled Daryl Mitchell, reducing New Zealand from 75/2 to 84/6.

Cole McConchie and skipper Mitchell Santner then anchored the innings. McConchie, initially on 3 off 12, smashed Chameera for two sixes and a four in the 17th over. Santner tore into Theekshana, hitting two massive sixes in a 21-run over, and added another off Dilshan Madushanka. Santner was eventually dismissed off the last ball for 47, as New Zealand doubled their score from 84/6, with 70 runs coming in the last four overs alone.

Matt Henry gave New Zealand a perfect start in defence, cleaning up Pathum Nissanka off the first ball and bouncing out Charith Asalanka. McConchie and Santner bowled with control, extracting turn and keeping the scoring rate in check. Sri Lanka's 20/2 was the slowest Powerplay of the tournament.

With the asking rate climbing, Ravindra was brought into the attack and struck immediately, stumping Kusal Mendis and Pavan Rathnayake within his first three deliveries. He then removed Dasun Shanaka and Dushan Hemantha to claim his fourth wicket.

Sri Lanka's chase and World Cup dream fell apart as New Zealand relied heavily on spin, with Lockie Ferguson bowling only one over and Matt Henry not returning for a second spell. Ish Sodhi was ineffective, but it made little difference as Ravindra and Glenn Phillips completed their overs.

Sri Lanka were not bowled out, but New Zealand completed a comprehensive 61-run win, confirming the co-hosts' elimination and complicating Pakistan's Net Run Rate equation.

Brief Scores: New Zealand 168/7 in 20 overs (Mitchell Santner 47, Cole McConchie 31*, Maheesh Theekshana 3-30, Dushmantha Chameera 3-38) beat Sri Lanka 107/8 in 20 overs (Kamindu Mendis 31, Rachin Ravindra 4-27, Matt Henry 2-3, Mitchell Santner 1-19) by 61 runs.