That will be it from this Women's T20 World Cup fixture. Do switch tabs as the clash between Bangladesh Women and South Africa Women isn't far away. For now, this is Ajay Pal Singh, signing off, on behalf of my co-commentator AkshayaKrishna Polya and scorer Raju Khariya. Ta ta. Bye bye.
Sophie Devine (New Zealand Women Captain): "Really pleased. Obviously disappointed in the last game. But we bowled well and restrict Sri Lanka to it. Georgia Plimmer outstanding. Super proud of her. The youngster showed her ability and happy to see her perform.
We actually didn’t. We set targets at the innings break and tried to get to the target in the 17th or 18th over. If we stay focused and in the present, we will get the results. We will get back to the drawing board before our next match against Pakistan.
(On Georgia Plimmer) She’s worked incredibly hard. She has copped a few criticism which is hard as a captain to see it. She has worked really hard behind the doors. That fifty in Australia boosted her confidence. You have to remember that she is 21-22 and she has a bright future.
I think I have said before that this group is flexible. We stay flexible, stay adaptable and happy to finish the game with the six. Thank you."
Chamari Athapaththu (Sri Lanka Women Captain): "Yeah, definitely we are not playing best cricket throughout this tournament. Today, we improved little bit but we fell short by 15-20 runs. The wicket was good and the bowlers tried hard.
I told them to play fearless cricket and positive cricket in the middle. We had nothing to lose. I told myself to play my best cricket. We failed to execute and it wasn’t enough to get the win.
We played good cricket in the last 12 months. Unfortunately, we didn’t play our best cricket in this competition. Obviously, the pressure is high. We have to take one game at a time. We lost our first match against Pakistan and our confidence went low."
Georgia Plimmer (Player of the Match): "Definitely. We have talked a lot about how we want to take the powerplay in these conditions. It was good to talk with Suzie and play. It was good to get my team off to that type of style and I'm happy.
I had to back my skills lately. There were plenty of conversations with the coaches and the captain. Just wanted to go out and back my game.
It's a pretty special group. Just the group is clear on how we want to play and attack. World Cups don't come often. Always trying to keep our best foot forward and enjoy our time in the middle."
Player of the Match: Georgia Plimmer
6:22 PM IST, 4:52 PM Local Time: That’s it. Skipper Sophie Devine finishes things in style and New Zealand Women get back to winning ways in the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2024. A solid all-around performance sees them brush aside Sri Lanka Women who remain winless in this edition. New Zealand Women beat Sri Lanka Women by eight wickets to keep their semi-final hopes alive.
Chasing a modest 116, New Zealand Women got off to a wonderful start. Suzie Bates and Georgia Plimmer gave a solid start. Both scored at a good rate and went unscathed in the powerplay. Bates fell on 17 in the eighth over as the opening stand of 49 came to an end. Amelia Kerr joined Plimmer who continued going strong from the other end and brought up her fifty.
Plimmer was dismissed on 44-ball 53 in the 15th over. Skipper Sophie Devine joined Amelia at the crease and made sure that there were no more hiccups in the chase. Both Amelia and Devine remained unbeaten on 34 and 13 respectively as New Zealand Women chased down the total in 17.3 overs with eight wickets in hand. Sachini Nisansala and Chamari Athapaththu picked up a wicket each for the Lankan side but it wasn't enough as they failed to defend the total.
Earlier, Sri Lanka Women opted to bat first. They lost Vishmi Gunaratne (8) early in the innings. Harshitha Madavi Samarawickrama was joined by her skipper Chamari Athapaththu as both started building a partnership. Both kept the White Ferns at bay in the middle overs. Harshitha (18) and Athapaththu (35) put 48 between them before both fell in quick succession.
The departure of both the set batters helped the New Zealand Women to pull back things. A lack of contributions from the other batters resulted and the Lankan side failed to finish with a flourish. The Sri Lanka Women finished their innings on 115/5. Leigh Kasperek and Amelia Kerr picked up two wickets each for New Zealand Women. Their batters then stepped up and chased down the total comfortably with eight wickets in hand.