Sri Lanka produced a stirring response to their opening defeat by stunning defending champions New Zealand in a dramatic Women’s T20 World Cup clash at Southampton. After being beaten heavily by England in their first match, Jamie Siddons’ side returned with sharper basics, cleaner fielding, and a composed chase led by Nilakshika Silva and Kaushini Nuthyangana.
Chasing 151, Sri Lanka slipped from 45 without loss to 55/4, but Nilakshika played one of the most important innings of her international career. Her unbeaten 54 from 37 balls, only her second T20I fifty in 116 appearances, guided Sri Lanka to a five-wicket win with two balls remaining.
Nuthyangana Sets the Tone Behind the Stumps
Before her vital contribution with the bat, Nuthyangana had already made a major impact as wicketkeeper.
She started the match with a sharp low catch to dismiss Izzy Gaze in the first over, then showed excellent awareness by pushing for a review against Brooke Halliday, which was overturned in Sri Lanka’s favour. Later, she covered nearly 20 metres to complete another difficult catch and remove Izzy Sharp for a duck.
Those moments helped Sri Lanka maintain pressure in the field and kept New Zealand to 150/6.
Sophie Devine and Melie Kerr both made 45, but neither was able to convert into the kind of innings that could take the defending champions out of reach. That inability to push beyond a competitive total would prove costly.
Nilakshika Leads the Rescue
Sri Lanka’s chase looked in serious trouble when four wickets fell in quick succession. At 55/4, New Zealand appeared to have taken control.
Nilakshika, however, changed the direction of the match.
She first rebuilt the innings with Kavisha Dilhari in a 50-run partnership that steadied Sri Lanka after the collapse. When Dilhari was run out, the equation still looked difficult, with 45 runs needed from the final five overs.
That was when Nuthyangana joined Nilakshika and played a fearless finishing hand. The wicketkeeper-batter struck an unbeaten 24 from 14 balls, rotating strike smartly and finding the boundary when required.
Together, Nilakshika and Nuthyangana added an unbroken 48-run stand to seal Sri Lanka’s first T20 World Cup win over New Zealand in eight meetings.
New Zealand Pay for Fielding Errors
For the second match in a row, New Zealand were left frustrated by missed chances.
After dropping several catches in their defeat to West Indies, the White Ferns again failed to hold key opportunities against Sri Lanka. The most damaging miss came when Nilakshika was dropped on 1 at short fine leg off Kerr.
Kerr later admitted that New Zealand had given Sri Lanka too many chances.
“We scouted her and know she’s a good player,” Kerr said. “She’s a good player of spin and pace and she hits all around the ground. She batted beautifully.
“That’s the thing with cricket, you give people a chance, you give them two chances, yet you can’t do that. Unfortunately we did, but she did play beautifully.”
New Zealand’s captain also reflected on the team’s wider fielding problems.
“It’s disappointing,” Kerr said. “The West Indies game and today’s game, if we take our chances, we probably win both games by about 50 runs. I don’t think there’s much of an issue with our batting group and even our bowling group. We’re creating chances and no one means to drop them, but we’ve dropped a lot. There’s a lot of people like myself that can put their hand up and say that. It’s disappointing because people say catches win matches and we’ve been on the wrong side of that in the last few games.”
New Zealand Under Pressure
The defeat leaves New Zealand with two losses from their opening two matches and very little room for error.
Kerr remained hopeful that her side could still recover, but admitted the start had been difficult.
“I thought today was an opportunity to bounce back and show our character and how good we are as a fielding group,” she said. “That’s what won us the last World Cup two years ago. Sitting here today after two bad days in the field is disappointing.
“It’s really disappointing to start a World Cup with two losses. I guess for us today and moving forward, four wins gets you through to a semi-final. Three makes it a little bit harder, but there’s still a possibility, so we’ve got to believe in that and trust that. Most important is to turn up for the next three games… there’s nothing to lose now.”
Sri Lanka, meanwhile, have revived their campaign with a victory of huge significance. Their bowlers kept the target manageable, their wicketkeeper was outstanding, and Nilakshika delivered under pressure to secure one of the most memorable wins in their T20 World Cup history.
