New Zealand knock out co-hosts Sri Lanka from T20 World Cup

Sri Lanka crashed out of the T20 World Cup after their second defeat in the Super Eights stage. The co-hosts lost by 61 runs to a resilient New Zealand in Colombo on Wednesday.

The win has given New Zealand a solid chance of qualifying for the semifinals as they have three points from two matches, and a win against England on Friday should do it. However, Pakistan are also in pursuit of the second slot from Group 2 as they face the Lankans at Pallekele on Saturday.

Today, the Lankans threw away a game they had in their hands for the most part. New Zealand were 84/6 after losing three wickets on the same score. The hosts failed to tighten the screw and Mitchell Santner played a captain's knock of 47, stitching an 84-run stand for the seventh wicket with Cole McConchie (31 not out).

The total of 168/7 was more than good on the surface and Pathum Nissanka's first-ball dismissal did not help Sri Lanka's chase. Lanka lost wickets at regular intervals, with Rachin Ravindra bagging 4/27 after scoring a handy 32 earlier in the evening.

Brief scores: New Zealand 168/7 in 20 overs (Santner 47, Ravindra 32, McConchie 31 not out, Maheesh Theekshana 3/30, Dushmantha Chameera 3/38) bt Sri Lanka 107/8 in 20 overs (Kamindu Mendis 31, Dunith Wellalage 29, Ravindra 4/27, Matt Henry 2/3)