The commentary is not available for this match. Please check the scorecard for latest updates.
A big, zealous crowd had gathered tonight at the Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium to witness this match. There were not only people in the stands but also a few on the trees and other tall structures around the ground. They return home jovial after having watched the home team trounce the opposition. Rest assured, they would return tommorow for more. So will we and we hope you will too. The second T20I of the series begins in only about 20 hours time. Until then, it is a goodbye from Darpan Tikiya and Soumarya Dutta.
Charith Asalanka (Player of the Match & Sri Lanka Captain): Of course, I was a bit nervous,. But my plan was to bat till the end. I think Wanindu and Wellalage batted really well in the end. I think we could have bowled them out 15-20 runs before. Credit goes to their lower order batters. I think as a team, the order does not matter much to us. All batters play spin really well. They chose really good shots as well. As a captain, winning the match is a plus point for me. I hope it continues.
Mitchell Santner (New Zealand)- "It's obviously a challenge and we did very well to get to 135. Credit to the Sri Lankan spinners and we felt that we could have gotten around 150. The dew set in more than we thought in the second innings. We will have to keep that in mind. It's always a privilege to captain New Zealand and it's a young group. We have a lot of One Day's and T20's coming up. It's the start of a campaign for us and we will take the learning pretty quickly from this loss. "
Time for the post match presentation. Charith Asalanka — the Sri Lanka skipper — is also the Player of the Match.
Kusal Perera (Sri Lanka)- "We all knew that the wicket was going to do something. The boys did well as an unit. When the ball is new we had to take the momentum in our stride. We tried to pick up the singles and twos after the powerplay. (On the Milestone) It feels really good. I'm going game by game and taking things accordingly. "
Sri Lanka get over the line and a grin breaks through the stern expression on coach Sanath Jayasuriya's face. It got a little bit tricky out there in the middle for a bit. But in the end, New Zealand just did not have enough.
The hosts made the most of the conditions. The 22-yard was a spinner's friend and SL deployed four of them. While Asalanka's two overs were expensive, the others did a fine job. The majority of NZ's batters struggled to pick the unorthodox bowlers and the Blackcaps kept losing wickets at regular intervals. The two slingers — Pathirana and Thushara chipped in with 2 wickets apiece too.
However, as mentioned before, the visitors were a bit short. Though, the early departure of Kusal Mendis and Zakary Foulkes' effective spell kept them interested till the very end. For Sri Lanka, it was a team effort that eventually got them over the line. Kusal Perera counter attacked to turn the tide after the initial jolt, Kamindu played a stylish cameo, Asalanka stayed till the end and Wellalage hit the winning six.
The crowd returns home having spent a jovial night at the Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium and they hope to return back tomorrow for more.
19
overs
140/6score
1
0
0
4
0
6
runs
Dunith Wellalage*
11(7)
Charith Asalanka
35(28)
Jacob Duffy
0/29
18.6 Jacob Duffy to Dunith Wellalage, MY WORDDDD! Wellalage finishes off in style with a massive hit! It was short of a good length and around the middle and leg stump line. He got underneath that one and picked up the slower one early. The left hander whacked it deep over the cow corner for a MAXIMUM. Sri Lanka win the first T20 International by 4 wickets with 6 balls to spare.
18.5 Jacob Duffy to Dunith Wellalage, back of a good length and around the line of off stump. Wellalage goes for a slash but he is beaten. Dot ball.