New Zealand 168 for 7 (Santner 47, Ravindra 32, Theekshana 3-30, Chameera 3-38) beat Sri Lanka 107 for 8 (Kamindu 31, Wellalage 29, Ravindra 4-27, Henry 2-3) by 61 runs

Theekshana rips through New Zealand on a mixed day

It was a boomerang of a day for Maheesh Theekshana for the extremes it swung between. It began inauspiciously when he put down a diving catch of Tim Seifert at short third off the bowling of Dilshan Madushanka – and copped a spray from the bowler for his trouble.

The following over, Theekshana would make no such mistake off his own bowling, diving sharply forward to send Finn Allen packing. It began three sensational overs for the spinner as he engineered a New Zealand collapse, dismissing Ravindra and Mark Chapman within three balls of each other. At that stage, his figures read 3-0-9-3. However, New Zealand’s late counterattack sullied them somewhat, with the spinner unable to stem the run-flow as Santner took him apart for 21 in his last over.

Henry double-strike leaves Sri Lanka reeling

New Zealand had the momentum at the halfway mark thanks to the Santner-McConchie stand, and Henry made sure it carried on uninterrupted. Off the first ball of the chase, he produced an unplayable inswinger that burst past Nissanka’s inside edge to knock off the top of the stumps. It was the start of a wicket-maiden, and that dagger already plunged, he returned for his second to take another wicket to open the over. This time, it was Charith Asalanka, a listless heave merely ballooning up in the infield.

To add insult to injury, McConchie and Santner returned to strangle Sri Lanka through half of the powerplay, their three overs inside the first six going for 14. It all combined for the hosts limping along to 20 for 2 in six, the lowest powerplay score all tournament.

Ravindra shows the way forward

New Zealand played most of this World Cup on the flat Chennai surfaces, but tonight’s bowling performance revealed their impressive flexibility. Coming to Colombo, they demonstrated they were fully prepared for slower, turning surfaces. McConchie was added in place of James Neesham to add bowling depth, with Ish Sodhi playing his first game of the tournament, not counting the Pakistan fixture that was washed out.

But it was Ravindra who epitomised New Zealand’s vast flexibility with a career-best performance, taking four wickets across his spell and carving the heart out of Sri Lanka’s middle order. All told, the visitors used five different spin options with only three overs of seam bowled all innings – the fewest for New Zealand in a completed T20I innings.