Wednesday 25 / February / 2026
COLOMBO: New Zealand ended Sri Lanka's run at the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026 as they staged a brilliant recovery with the bat to set up a 61-run victory in Colombo on Wednesday.
After a late charge lifted New Zealand to 168/7 in their 20 overs, the Kiwi bowlers came to the party, holding the home team to 107/8.
It was Sri Lanka's second successive defeat in the Super Eight stage, which puts them out of semi-final contention.
Meanwhile, New Zealand have strengthened their chances of making the final four with the big win. While England have already qualified, the Kiwis are currently second in Group 2 with three points.
The only team who can still challenge them is Pakistan, but Salman Agha's team will have to win against Sri Lanka with a substantial margin and hope that New Zealand crumble against England to go through.
Put into bat, New Zealand's lower order rescued the team from a precarious 84/6 to go past 160.
Captain Mitchell Santner led the way with a 47 off 26 balls, slamming four sixes and two fours, while Cole McConchie was unbeaten on 31, with the help of three fours and two sixes.
Though Finn Allen gave the team a brisk start, Sri Lanka struck back in the third over, with Maheesh Theekshana packing off the right-hander and Dushmantha Chameera dismissing his opening partner Tim Seifert in the next over.
A 41-run partnership between Rachin Ravindra (32) and Glenn Phillips provided temporary respite.
But Phillips' dismissal triggered a middle-order collapse, with New Zealand losing four wickets for nine runs. Ravindra, Mark Chapman and Daryl Mitchell departed within the space of eight balls, with the score frozen on 84.
With New Zealand on the verge, Santner and McConchie dug their heels in. They took their time calming the nerves, then flipped the switch in the 17th over, scoring 70 runs in the last four overs. They piled on 84 runs for the seventh wicket, in just 47 balls to bring New Zealand back from the dead.
Off-spinner Theekshana (3/30) and pacer Chameera (2/38) had been razor sharp in the first 15 overs, but came in for some brutal treatment in the slog overs.
In response, Sri Lanka faltered right out of the gates, as their lead batter Pathum Nissanka was bowled on the first ball of the innings with a peach of a delivery by pacer Matt Henry. After a wicket maiden in first over, Henry claimed comeback man Charith Asalanka in the next and finished with figures of 2/3 in two overs.
The home team was on the ropes at 19/2 after six overs, their lowest total in powerplay at T20 World Cups.
To make matters worse, Kusal Mendis and Pavan Rathnayake fell on two successive legal deliveries, to near identical stumpings off Rachin Ravindra. The left-arm spinner has claimed 4/19 in his three overs so far, his best figures in T20I cricket.
Kamindu Mendis (31) and Dunith Wellalage (29) offered some resistance, but the scales were heavily tipped against them by the time. Not only did the co-hosts lose wickets regularly, they were unable to build any momentum and put the pressure back on their rivals. Sri Lanka scored only 38 runs off boundaries, as opposed to 100 by their rivals.
Brief scores: New Zealand 168/7 (Finn Allen 23, Rachin Ravindra 32, Mitchell Santner 47, Cole McConchie 31; Maheesh Theekshana 3/30, Dushmantha Chameera 3/38) beat Sri Lanka 107/8 (Kamindu Mendis 31, Dunith Wellalage 29; Rachin Ravindra 4/27, Matt Henry 2/3).
