A scintillating century by Glenn Phillips and a stunning spell by Trent Boult gave New Zealand a comprehensive victory against Sri Lanka by 65 runs. With this win, New Zealand is at the top of the table in Group 1 and has almost confirmed its semifinal berth.
New Zealand had a disastrous start while batting first. It lost the wickets of Fin Allen, Davon Conway and Kane Williamson in the first four overs. The score was 15/3 at one point. That’s when Glenn Phillips entered the crease and made an 84-run partnership with Daryll Mitchell (22). Phillips played cautiously till the innings was settled. Once he completed his half-century, he breathed fire on the Sri Lankan bowlers. Though NZ lost a series of wickets in the death overs, Phillips stayed strong in the crease and finished his century (104* off 64 balls). With the help of his superb knock, New Zealand posted a total of 167/7 in 20 overs.
Sri Lanka was troubled by the Kiwis right from the beginning of the chase. It lost half of the side within 6 overs. The score was 24/5 in 6.1 overs at one point. Then, Bhanuka Rajapaksa (34) and Dasun Sanaka (35) tried to settle the chase by making a partnership of 34 runs. But once Rajapaksa departed, things went haywire for Sri Lanka once again. Barring Sanaka and Rajapaksa, no other batter scored a single-digit score. Eventually, they got all out for 102. Trent Boult dismantled the batting lineup of Lanka by scalping four wickets (4/13). Mitchell Santner (2/21) and Ish Sodhi (2/21) took two wickets each. Tim Southee (1/12) and Lockie Ferguson (1/35) got one wicket each.
