Follow UsDespite Kusal Perera batting like a dream at the start of the innings, Sri Lanka could hardly compose themselves and ended up losing three wickets for 32 runs on board. So much so that, they were down to 70/5 - and it was only because of the lower-order resistance that they could manage a decent total of 172 in their World Cup clash against New Zealand. Sri Lanka skipper Kusal Mendis put the failure of the top-order as the major reason behind them putting an abject performance at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.
“We lost 4 wickets in first 10 overs and that's what got us into trouble,” Mendis said in the pre-match presentation. “We could have easily gotten 300 on this pitch. Madushanka bowled really well, but it was tough to take wickets because we were defending a small total.”
With the win, New Zealand have virtually ensured their place in the semi-final, with Pakistan needing an out-of-the-blue performance to overthrow them. New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson is very pleased with the complete performance of his team and added that the wicket slowed down in the second half to make the lives of their batters easier.
“Really good performance. Early wickets and spin was a challenge through those middle overs. The pitch really slowed down later. The guys showed some good intent later with the chase so great performance overall. We thought there was going to be some weather later but there wasn't any. Hard to read such things,” Williamson told host broadcasters.
“Glad we were able to pick up wickets; people like Perera can take the game away from you. Always great getting our 5th and 6th spinners into the game, a great effort overall.”