SL Women eliminated after losing to New Zealand in CWG T20

New Zealand’s Womens cricketers celebrate taking a Sri Lankan wicket 

By Susil Premalal - Reporting from Birmingham  

The Sri Lanka Women’s Cricket Team suffered a second straight defeat as New Zealand secured their place in the semi-finals with a convincing 45-run victory in their Commonwealth Games T20 Tournament fixture played in Birmingham, England yesterday.  

In a low-scoring encounter, New Zealand successfully defended their modest total of 147 runs and restricted Sri Lankans to 102 for eight from their allotted 20 overs.  

New Zealand, after electing to bat first, rallied around an opening-wicket stand of 41 runs between Skipper Sophie Devine and Suzie Bates before Sri Lanka came back into the game through Inoka Ranaweera (3/30).  
In reply, Sri Lanka lost both openers inside the powerplay, and they struggled throughout the innings with medium pacer Hayley Jensen returning outstanding figures of three wickets for just five runs from her four overs inclusive of 20 dot-balls.  

Nilakshi de Silva was the only Sri Lankan batter to shine as she hit a top score of 36 from 35 deliveries following her heroics in the previous game against England. 

Chief scores:  
New Zealand Women: 147/7 in 20 overs (Suzie Bates 34, Sophie Devine 24, Lea Tahuhu 20, Inoka Ranaweera 3/30)  
Sri Lanka Women: 102/8 in 20 overs (Nilakshi de Silva 36, Hayley Jensen 3/5, Eder Carson 2/30)