With Rachin, Chapman’s 112 runs stand, New Zealand sealed the series victory in the three-match ODI series by winning the second ODI game at Hamilton.
During the Sri Lanka tour of New Zealand 2024-25, a total of three T20Is and three ODIs have been scheduled to be played between 28 December 2024 and 11 January 2025. New Zealand won the T20I series by 2-1 and also sealed a series victory in the three-match ODI series by winning the first two games.
Apart from the batters, New Zealand bowlers also played a vital role in their team’s victory. Sri Lankans were under pressure to win the game today in order to stay alive in the three-match ODI series after losing their first match by nine wickets at Wellington.
Sri Lanka’s do-or-die game has been reduced to 37 overs each side due to the rain. Speaking of the match, winning the toss Sri Lanka opted to bowl first where Will Young and Rachin Ravindra opened the inning.
Though Will Young lost his wicket at an early stage of the rain-affected game, Chapman and Rachin Ravindra made a 112-run stand for the second wicket.
While the duo was seen to be a threatening pair for the host, M Theekshana broke the partnership by dismissing Chapman for 62. Rachin Ravindra on the other hand who was expected to reach the triple-digit mark got dismissed by Hasaranga while scoring 79 off 63 balls.
Without much contribution from the middle and lower-order batters, New Zealand scored 255 runs after losing nine wickets from the allotted 37 overs.
While chasing, Sri Lanka failed to lay a strong foundation as the hosts lost their first four wickets for just 22 runs. For the fifth wicket, Kamindu Mendis and Janith Liyanage made a stand and added 57 runs before Nathan Smith broke the partnership by dismissing Janith Liyanage for 22.
SL batters struggled to face the Kiwi bowling attack and lost their wickets in a regular intervals and ended up scoring just 142 runs after losing all their 10 wickets and lost the game by 113 runs.
With the victory, New Zealand sealed a series victory with the final game to be played on January 11 at Eden Park, Auckland.
Nathan Smith! A screamer on the Seddon Park boundary to dismiss Eshan Malinga 🔥 #NZvSL #CricketNation pic.twitter.com/sQKm8aS07F
— BLACKCAPS (@BLACKCAPS) January 8, 2025
