The Black Caps have one foot in the semi-finals of the Twenty20 World Cup after completing one of the great come-from-behind wins, against co-hosts Sri Lanka in Colombo.
A record partnership between captain Mitchell Santner (47 off 26 balls) and Cole McConchie (31 not out off 23) rescued New Zealand from 84-6, and lifted the Black Caps to 168-7, before the bowlers restricted their hosts to 107-8, to win by 61 runs.
With their side in disarray, Santner and McConchie belted 84 runs from 47 balls, and left a partisan home crowd of 35,000 silent as their side crashed out of their own tournament.
Both timed their innings to perfection; Santner had five runs off 11 balls at the start of the 17th over, while McConchie was eight off 14 at the same point, but the duo flipped the script to take the final four overs for 70 runs.
Before the Super Eight stage, the Black Caps’ bowling had been their weakness, by taking only 14 wickets of the 40 available to them. But on a surface conditioned to get the best out of Sri Lanka’s attack, New Zealand had the last laugh, and bowled 17 overs of spin.
From the moment Matt Henry (2-3) bowled Pathum Nissanka with the Sri Lankan innings’ first ball, the Black Caps never looked like losing. Having made 32 before New Zealand’s collapse, Rachin Ravindra proved the star with the ball, taking a career-best 4-27 to put the brakes on Sri Lanka.
While not through to the final four, yet, a win or washout against England on Saturday morning (NZT) will be enough for the Black Caps to progress. Defeat will leave the Black Caps waiting on Pakistan 24 hours later, who could pip the Kiwis on net run rate, against a Sri Lankan side with nothing to play for.
After losing the toss for the 10th straight game, and being asked to bat first in spin-friendly conditions, Santner and McConchie rescued the Black Caps from the brink. From 75-3 at halfway, the middle order imploded, and lost three wickets without scoring to be 84-6, one ball into the 13th over, courtesy of mystery spinner Maheesh Theekshana (3-30).
Any hope rested largely on the seventh-wicket pair, who were able to soak up pressure as Sri Lanka lost their nerve at the death.
A McConchie six over midwicket off Dushmantha Chameera (3-38) raised New Zealand’s 100 in the 17th over, and went again two balls later, before Santner hit two sixes and a boundary for 21 off Theekshana’s final over.
Another Santner six, over long-on, raised the 150, as Sri Lanka’s inability to bowl their overs on time meant an extra fielder inside the circle for the final over. While Santner was dismissed to the innings’ final delivery shy of a half-century, lifting the total to 168-7 gave the Black Caps plenty to bowl at.
After removing Nissanka in his first over, a Henry slower ball in his second accounted for Charith Asalanka (8), caught by Daryl Mitchell at midwicket, as Sri Lanka’s power play yielded just 20-2, as the required run rate crept above 10.
Sniffing blood in the water, Santner threw the ball to Ravindra, and was rewarded with the wickets of Kusal Perera (11 off 22) and Pavan Rathnayake (10 off 18), both stumped by Tim Seifert, as Sri Lanka crawled to 45-4 at halfway, needing 124 runs from the last 10 overs.
Ravindra had a third when captain Dasun Shanaka (3) top-edged a cut shot straight to Finn Allen, and then his fourth when Dushan Hemantha (3) holed out to Mitchell at long-on, and into Sri Lanka’s tail.
With the required run rate at more than 17 per over, Kamindu Mendis (31 off 23) loomed as Sri Lanka’s last hope. But at 77-6, he hit Santner (1- straight to Glenn Phillips at midwicket, and ended any slim hopes of victory for the hosts.
The only great disappointment for New Zealand was Ravindra not being able to complete a five-wicket haul. But after the position they were in, the Black Caps won’t be complaining.
New Zealand 168-7 (Santner 47; Theekshana 3-30)
Sri Lanka 107-8 (Mendis 31; Ravindra 4-27, Henry 2-3)
New Zealand won by 61 runs
Alex Powell is a sports journalist for the NZ Herald. He has been a sports journalist since 2016.