Sri Lanka has turned Pathum to Nissanka for rapid starts at the top.
| Photo Credit: AFP
Marred by early setbacks, Sri Lanka and New Zealand will fight to salvage their campaigns when they meet in a Group 2 clash of the T20 World Cup Super Eight at the R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo on Wednesday.
For Sri Lanka, the optimism brought by the resounding win over Australia has been chipped away by the consecutive losses to Zimbabwe (final group match) and England (Super Eight). For New Zealand, the solitary point from its washed out game against Pakistan was barely a consolation.
A loss in its second match will leave the Kiwis clinging on to permutations for its qualification – still a better prospect than Sri Lanka’s, for which a reverse will draw the curtain on its semifinal hopes.
The host has the greater task at hand after its batting meltdown against England. Sri Lanka has turned to Pathum Nissanka for rapid bursts at the top, and New Zealand could prevent that by exploiting his weakness against the pace of Lockie Ferguson.
A lack of runs has riddled the middle-order until now, and the only batter with a decent run-tally, Pavan Rathnayake, could also find himself tied down by Mitchell Santner and Ish Sodhi. Scores of 170 or more have been chased down twice at this venue, and irrespective of when it bats, Sri Lanka would want the runs to stay in the reckoning.
As it is, New Zealand has enough batting resolve to deal with Sri Lanka’s upbeat spinners, who have shouldered the added responsibility amid injuries to the pace unit.
Maheesh Theekshana and Dunith Wellalage were a handful for the England top-order, but will face stiff resistance from Glenn Phillips, Mark Chapman and Daryl Mitchell, whose strike rates inch close to 200 against spin.
If it can shake off the rust, having last taken the field last Tuesday, New Zealand looks well-equipped to see off Sri Lanka’s challenge.
Published – February 24, 2026 08:38 pm IST
