10:27 AM IST | AND SRI LANKA HAVE WON A HARD FOUGHT ENCOUNTER IN THE SUPER OVER! They take a 1-0 lead in this 3 match T20I series! A fantastic victory for the Lankans to kick off the series!

New Zealand won the toss and elected to field first, and that decision looked to be a superb one as a clever review from Tom Latham sent Patthum Nissanka packing off the first delivery of the match! However, Kusal Mendis and Kusal Perera had other ideas as the duo smashed quick 47 runs to put Sri Lanka in the driver's seat!

Charith Asalanka then came in and played a fantastic knock to score 67 runs off 41 balls and thanks to a late innings cameo from Wanindu Hasaranga the Lankans posted a total of 196/5 from their 20 overs.

Come the chase, Sri Lanka were in dream land as both Bowes and Seifert were dismissed for a combined total of 3 runs on the board. The Kiwis were in grave danger of an embarrassing loss but Daryl Mitchell and Tom Latham held fort for a 63 run-stand to bring the Kiwis back in the game. Daryl Mitchell top scored for them with 66 runs off 44 balls.

After Mitchell's loss, the game looked to be headed Lanka's way but in came Ravindra with a 13 ball 26 cameo and with 6 needed off the last ball to tie the game, Ish Sodhi wielded his magic bat and ensured the game went into super over!

The Kiwis batted first and Sri Lanka opted for Theekshana. Lanka's decision proved to be the right one as the spinner gave away only 8 runs while picking up 2 wickets. Eventually, Sri Lanka finished off the game with 3 balls to spare in the super over!

A thrilling start to the series here and Sri Lanka will look to build on this to seal the victory in the next T20I! While, New Zealand will go back to the drawing board and look to iron out the finer margins that cost them the game tonight!