Twitter Reactions: Ross Taylor and Colin de Grandhomme negate Mendis and Malinga’s efforts

The first T20I between Sri Lanka and New Zealand provided the fans with great fun and entertainment. Although there were a few passing showers in between, the rain didn’t really cause an interruption to this game. Sri Lanka’s batting performance was dominated by Kusal Mendis. With the ball, Lasith Malinga tried hard. But Ross Taylor and Colin de Grandhomme negated their efforts and handed the Kiwis over with a 5-wicket win.

Sri Lanka worked around the batting order slightly for this game and it was successful up to a certain extent. Kusal Mendis and Kusal Perera got the team off to a good start. 50 runs were scored in the powerplay with the former being the aggressor. However, Sri Lanka lost Perera in the fifth over for 11 runs. Immediately after the powerplay, things hit a halt and the hosts found it hard to get going against the spinners.

Avishka Fernando crawled his way to a 17-ball 10 which resulted in the team scoring only 23 in the next four overs. However, Mendis upped the ante after this and scored a good fifty under pressure. He mustered 79 runs off 53 balls before he was dismissed. Even though Sri Lanka wasn’t heading towards a huge total, Isuru Udana struck a few big hits in the final over where 23 runs were scored. Thus, the team managed to get to 174/4. For New Zealand, skipper Tim Southee was the pick of the bowlers.

Ross Taylor and Colin de Grandhomme revive New Zealand in the chase

It wasn’t a great start for the Kiwis in the chase. Right in the first over, Lasith Malinga dismissed Colin Munro for a golden duck. The likes of Martin Guptill and Tim Seifert were also dismissed for 11 and 15 runs respectively. When the team was under evident pressure, Colin de Grandhomme and Ross Taylor joined hands to stitch together a handy partnership. The former scored a quickfire 44 which came off 28 balls which eased the pressure slightly. It was Malinga yet again who dislodged the woodwork to dismiss him.

Yet, Ross Taylor kept going strong and put things under New Zealand’s control. His dismissal in the 17th over of the game after he scored 48 off 29 balls turned things around slightly. However, the hosts let the pressure off at crucial situations of the game. Mitchell Santner and Daryl Mitchell did extremely well towards the end to take the side over the line. While Twitterati praised these two batsmen, Ross Taylor and Colin de Grandhomme, they felt disappointed to see Lasith Malinga and Kusal Mendis’ efforts go in vain.

Here is how Twitterati reacted: