Twitter Reactions: Adam Milne, Tim Seifert star in New Zealand's thumping series-leveling victory
Adam Milne's five-wicket haul followed by Tim Seifert's blistering half-century sealed a comfortable victory for the Kiwis.
Following a narrow defeat against Sri Lanka in the T20I series opener in Auckland, the Kiwis bounced back in style to dish out a chastening defeat to the visitors in the second match of the series in Dunedin. Adam Milne's searing fast bowling spell restricted Sri Lanka to a below-par total in the first innings, and Tim Seifert's explosive half-century sealed an emphatic series-levelling victory for the Blackcaps.
Sri Lanka were put into bat first in the contest after Tom Latham called it right at the toss in the decisive second match of the series. The visitors, who claimed a nail-biting victory in the previous encounter, lost openers Kusal Mendis and Pathum Nissanka in a frenetic start. Following those two initial blows, the pair of Kusal Perera and Dhananjaya de Silva steadied the innings with a brisk 62-run stand.
However, catastrophe struck for the Asian outfit when both the set batters departed within two overs as New Zealand clawed their way back into the contest. But it got worse for the Lankans in a chaotic half an hour as they lost their last six wickets, scoring just 19 runs in the space of just 22 deliveries. Kiwi speedster Adam Milne was their tormentor-in-chief, returning with spectacular bowling figures of 5/26 in his four overs.
Sri Lanka was blown away by Tim Seifert's blistering half-century
Sri Lankan's below-par total of 141 runs was never going to trouble the Kiwi batters, and it proved to be the case as Chad Bowes handed his side a blistering start in the chase. Bowes smashed 31 runs in just 15 balls to extinguish whatever little hopes Sri Lankan bowlers had to defend the modest total.
It was the Tim Seifert show from thereon as the 28-year-old batting ace registered a blistering half-century to take his side home in a comfortable victory. He finished things off in style, smashing consecutive maximums against Dhananjaya de Silva as the home side raced over the line with more than five overs to spare.
@malinga_ninety9
35
3@ICC32520@BLACKCAPS71096@BLACKCAPS223@Cricketracker471@BLACKCAPS10717@OfficialSLC598294Download Our App