New Delhi: New Zealand ended Sri Lanka’s run at the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 with a commanding 61-run win on Wednesday. After a late lower-order surge helped the visitors post 168/7, New Zealand’s bowlers dominated, restricting the hosts to 107/8 in Colombo.
This was Sri Lanka’s second straight defeat in the Super Eight stage, knocking them out of semi-final contention. New Zealand strengthened their chances of reaching the final four, sitting second in Group 2 with three points behind already-qualified England.
Pakistan remains the only team that could challenge them, but they must beat Sri Lanka by a huge margin and hope New Zealand falters against England.
Put into bat, New Zealand looked in trouble at 84/6, according to icc-cricket.com. Captain Mitchell Santner led the fightback with a 47 off 26 balls, including four sixes and two fours. Cole McConchie remained unbeaten on 31, combining with Santner to add 84 runs for the seventh wicket in just 47 balls. The lower-order surge pushed New Zealand past 160, rescuing the side from a precarious position.
Earlier, Finn Allen gave New Zealand a brisk start, but Sri Lanka fought back with Maheesh Theekshana dismissing Allen in the third over, followed by Dushmantha Chameera removing Tim Seifert.
A 41-run partnership between Rachin Ravindra (32) and Glenn Phillips provided temporary relief, but Phillips’ dismissal triggered a middle-order collapse. New Zealand lost four wickets for just nine runs, with Ravindra, Mark Chapman, and Daryl Mitchell falling in quick succession.
Santner and McConchie then steadied the innings before launching a furious attack in the final overs, scoring 70 runs in the last four overs and setting a challenging target. Off spinner Theekshana (3/30) and pacer Chameera (3/38) were effective early but were hit hard in the slog overs.
Chasing 169, Sri Lanka struggled from the start. Pathum Nissanka was bowled on the first ball by Matt Henry, who then dismissed Charith Asalanka, finishing with 2/3 from two overs. Sri Lanka were 20/2 after six overs, their lowest powerplay total at T20 World Cups.
Things worsened as Kusal Mendis and Pavan Rathnayake fell on successive deliveries, both stumped by Ravindra, who finished with career-best T20I figures of 4/27.
Kamindu Mendis (31) and Dunith Wellalage (29) offered some resistance, but wickets kept tumbling. Sri Lanka managed only 38 runs from boundaries compared to 100 by New Zealand, leaving the home side short of the target.
