NZ v SL 2nd T20I Review: Guptill, Munro annihilate Sri Lanka

It was a total destruction of the hapless Sri Lanka bowling attack as Martin Guptill (63 from 25 balls) and later Colin Munro’s 14 ball half-century mowed down the functional target of 143 in the space of just 10 overs. This brutal batting carnage would surely leave its effect onto the mind of the Sri Lankan bowlers. All of them were ruthlessly hit for over 10 an over with Jeffrey Vandersay and Dushmantha Chameera going over 15 runs an over. Kane Williamson (32 from 21 balls), on the sidelines, just enjoyed the rampage.

The day wasn’t great in any way for the Lankan Lions. They began unimpressively after being put into bat by Kiwis’ skipper Kane Williamson. Opener Gunathilaka was clean bowled by an Adam Milne ripper. Two quick wickets of Shehan Jayasuriya and Dinesh Chandimal on back to back deliveries saw Sri Lanka at 39/3 before 7 overs. Dilshan looked unfazed and was batting well. However, he too departed few overs later.

The slump worsened for Sri Lanka as Grant Elliott came to the party and dismantled the lower middle order. Last wicket partnership of 39 runs saw Sri Lanka reach to 142/8 from being 98/7 at one stage. Angelo Matthews deserves appreciation as he single-handedly took Sri Lanka to a competitive total with his unbeaten knock of 81 runs.

The chase was a short story to tell as Guptill began aggressively. Williamson smartly rotated the strike to him. A boundary and a six (or even more) was a routine today as they went over the fifty run mark in just 3.4 overs. Guptill got out just after another couple of overs, however, not before smashing a 19-ball fifty. His departure brought Colin Munro to the crease, who finished off the rest of the chase in a blink of an eye.

In the fifth over Guptill broke the record for the fastest fifty by a New Zealand batsman and Munro a few overs later broke the fresh record as well getting to his half-century in just 14 balls. This feat also took him to the second position in the list of the fastest fifties in T20I cricket.

With that the home team completed a perfect tour, beating the touring Sri Lankan’s first in the Tests 2-0, then winning the ODI series 3-1 and today completed a sweep in the T20I series as they won both the matches.

Brief Scores:

Sri Lanka: 142/8 in 20 overs (Matthews 81; Elliott 4/22)

New Zealand: 147/1 in 10 overs (Guptill 63; Perera 1/26)

Man of the Match: Colin Munro

Do you know the record for the fastest fifties in T20I cricket? – Top 10 Fastest Fifties in T20 international cricket