Where the margins lay, the night turned

This was the most the ball has spun in this T20 World Cup. And the second-most it has swung. Conditions were sticky. Boundaries were vast, with ropes stretching beyond 75 metres on one side. Getting the ball off the square wasn't easy.

New Zealand, asked to set a target, weren't thinking big. "We were probably discussing 150," Rachin Ravindra said later. They ended with 168 for 7.

The drama lay in how Mitchell Santner and Cole McConchie, joining at 84 for 6, pulled New Zealand out of the mire. That total, once on the board, enhanced their reputation and virtually ended Sri Lanka's World Cup campaign before the chase began.

Both admitted to being "nervy" early on. Santner was 3 from 8 balls. McConchie was 3 from 11. The more accomplished batters had struggled too. Finn Allen was undone by a carrom ball. Mark Chapman fell to a turning offbreak. Daryl Mitchell was beaten by a delivery that did not spin. Those who survived spin were hurried by Dushmantha Chameera's pace.

A well-timed drinks break allowed recalibration. Santner noted starting here was not easy. With five overs left, the aim was simple: impose themselves. Or "be proactive against spin," as McConchie put it.

It took ten balls after the restart. On the eleventh, McConchie shuffled across and swept past short fine leg, breaking a stretch of 33 balls without a boundary. "If we looked to stay in the crease and just play from the crease, it was always going to be a tricky wicket," McConchie explained. "We talked about sweeping or using the feet… just looking to be a little bit more proactive."

Sri Lanka had been sharp with their fields all evening. Attacking. At times funky. Dilshan Madushanka began with a short mid-off. Dunith Wellalage bowled with a deep mid-wicket several yards in. There was almost always extra protection for the shorter 62-metre side.

"In terms of fields," Ravindra said, "Sri Lanka were amazing through that middle and put a lot of pressure on us. For us it was trying to squeeze when we can, string dots together."

What New Zealand had been waiting for was pace. Eventually, Sri Lanka gave it to them. Three of the last four overs were handed to seamers.

From McConchie's end, the shorter boundary sat square on the off side. That mattered. When Chameera went full and fast, McConchie picked him up over mid-wicket. When the slower ball came, he was ready. When Chameera shifted around the wicket, McConchie adjusted and pierced point.

Santner read it just as quickly. Maheesh Theekshana was spinning the ball away into the longer boundary. Santner cut when it was short. When it was fuller, he was set for the slog sweep into the shorter leg-side. The next ball, under pressure, was a full toss. That disappeared too.

Two overs brought 39 runs. New Zealand were suddenly 137 for 6.

Sri Lanka persisted with pace at the death, backing the bowlers who had delivered previously. But execution faltered. Madushanka missed wide yorkers. Chameera could not nail the blockhole. A slow over-rate penalty reduced boundary riders to four. On a ground with one inviting side, that margin was decisive.

"It's just about communication and almost trusting your swing," McConchie said. "On a shorter boundary like that, you don't have to get full contact, but it's important you're in a good position… not trying to manufacture it."

There were also 16 singles and four twos. Hard running. A 47-ball partnership built first on survival, then acceleration.

"I think they both realised in terms of the wickets that we had," Ravindra said, "and it was awesome to have a left-right combination. They targeted that shorter side and ran really hard… We're definitely a bit nervous in the dugout and then we saw how they absorbed and absorbed and just applied pressure back at the right time."

Dasun Shanaka had his reasons for turning to pace at the back end. "About the death-over plans, everyone saw what Chameera and Madushanka did in the last two matches," Shanaka said. "There are days that things get wrong… It's a day like that."

Plans were there. Execution wavered. "We tried to execute wide yorkers and Maheesh, I think, got a bit panicked after getting three wickets," Shanaka said. "So, it's totally a mental thing… the plans, they know what to execute. It's about the mentality and the situations that they misread sometimes."

New Zealand found a way. It was not easy. They absorbed. They recalibrated. They struck.

And in doing so, they didn't just post 168. They changed the shape of the night.