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Amelia Kerr shone with bat and ball to guide New Zealand to a comfortable eight-wicket victory over Sri Lanka at the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2024.
Kerr took two for 13 with the ball as Sri Lanka set the White Ferns 115 to win, before she produced a crucial 34 from 31 balls to guide her side home.
Georgia Plimmer’s impressive half century proved a perfect platform for New Zealand to secure victory, and Kerr combined with captain Sophie Devine to get them over the line and keep her side’s semi-final hopes alive.
Sri Lanka began their innings brightly, with openers Vishmi Gunaratne and Chamari Athapaththu both finding the boundary in the early overs and taking advantage of some loose New Zealand bowling.
But the White Ferns found a crucial early breakthrough in the fourth over as Eden Carson bowled Gunaratne for eight.
Captain Athapaththu combined well with new batter Harshitha Samarawickrama to steady the Sri Lankan ship, with the pair sharing a 48-run stand to build a strong platform for their side.
Athapaththu led the way with 35 off 41 runs until spinner Kerr claimed her first wicket of the afternoon to bowl the Sri Lanka skipper.
That proved a key intervention with Sri Lanka 74 for two, as Samarawickrama fell just five balls later for 18 as she could only chip to extra cover following a superb ball from Leigh Kasperek.
Sri Lanka looked to respond in the final five overs, Kavisha Dilhari producing an impressive Dil-scoop to try and drive up her side’s run rate.
But the White Ferns kept finding wickets at key times, Anushka Sanjeewani (5) became Kasperek’s second victim of the tournament as she looked to hit down the ground but could only find the hands of Devine.
Kerr then struck again for her second wicket of the match, trapping Dilhari (10) leg before as she tried to sweep for the boundary.
That left Sri Lanka reduced to 97 for five but Nilakshika Silva (14 not out) and Ama Kanchana (10 not out) dug in to steer their side home to 115, their highest score of the tournament.
New Zealand were forced to ease their way into their chase, but soon picked up a fast pace through opener Plimmer.
After a slow opening four overs negotiating the Sri Lankan spin attack, the right-hander opened up with boundaries from the first ball of back-to-back overs before she and Suzie Bates both crashed a boundary each in the seventh over to leave the White Ferns 48 without loss.
With New Zealand appearing to get on top of the contest, Sri Lanka then broke the opening partnership when Sachini Nisansala clean bowled Bates for 17.
It was almost a second wicket in quick succession, but Inoshi Priyadharshani was unable to hold onto a shot from Plimmer at short range off her own bowling.
Kerr quickly settled into her innings with the bat, crunching a cover drive for four off just her second ball as New Zealand looked to regain their momentum.
That is exactly what they did, as Kerr and Plimmer combined to comfortably guide their side towards the 100 mark and in sight of victory.
Plimmer notched up an impressive half century before Athapaththu finally got the wicket they needed to dismiss the opener for 53 off 44 balls.
Kerr immediately took up the mantle to drive the White Ferns past 100 with another boundary through point.
Her knock of 34 from 31 balls proved enough for victory in conjunction with captain Devine, who sealed victory with 15 balls to spare via a crunching six.
Scores in brief
Sri Lanka v New Zealand, Sharjah International Stadium, Sharjah.
Sri Lanka 115/5 in 20 overs (Chamari Athapaththu 35, Harshitha Samarawickrama 18; Amelia Kerr 2/13, Leigh Kasperek 2/27)
New Zealand 118/2 in 17.3 overs (Georgia Plimmer 53, Amelia Kerr 34; Chamari Athapaththu 1/8, Sachini Nisansala 1/24)
Result: New Zealand win by eight wickets
