Live Score

Highest Successful Run-Chases for Sri Lanka in WT20Is:

167/2 vs India, Dambulla, 2024 (T-166)

156/6 vs South Africa, East London, 2024 (T-156)

153/5 vs New Zealand, Southampton, 2026 (T-151), Today*

148/7 vs India, Vizianagaram, 2014 (T-148)

149/3 vs Ireland, Dublin, 2024 (T-146)

Sri Lanka’s 153/5 (Target- 151) against New Zealand is now the highest successful run chase in the history of the Women's T20 World Cup. The previous one was 129/3 (Target - 127) vs Bangladesh in Cape Town in 2023.

Trivia: Nilakshi de Silva’s unbeaten 54 against New Zealand made her only the second batter to score 50+ runs in an innings while batting at No. 6 or lower in Women’s T20 World Cup history, after Deandra Dottin’s 112* against South Africa at Basseterre in 2010.

Amelia Kerr (New Zealand Women Captain): "[On their batting performance] I thought the wicket was a touch slower. Because of the nature of their bowling attack with lower trajectory, I thought it was a good total. We had enough runs. We would have liked more. But again today, the fielding has let us down.

[What was the difference between the two sides?] I thought they ran really well between the wickets. And that partnership in the end. Finishing the innings as well. For us, when I got out, if I could have batted for a couple of more overs, I could have built a platform for Sophie.

[Improvements to make before the next game?] We have three games to go. Big three matches for our country. We have to lift ourselves up. The biggest improvement is the fielding. We are batting well. We are bowling in good areas. We are creating opportunities. But catches win you matches. The fielding hasn't been up to that standard."

Chamari Athapaththu (Sri Lanka Women Captain): (On the importance of the win) "I feel it's a good win. I feel it was a must-win game for us because otherwise we wouldn't have had a chance. As a team and as a batting unit, we executed our plans. Nilakshi played really well today. Kaushani is not in her best form, but today she did a really good job alongside Nilakshi.

(On the team's fielding performance) Definitely. As a fielding unit, especially with the work our fielding coach has done over the last six months, we've improved a lot. We struggled in the field previously, but today we were much better. As a fielding unit, we did a really good job.

(On beating New Zealand) Every game is very crucial for us. I know New Zealand is one of the best teams in this tournament. They are the world champions and one of the tournament favourites. So beating New Zealand doesn't mean we can relax. We still have to execute our plans properly. That's the most important thing.

(On areas for improvement) As a team, we still need to improve in a couple of areas. Especially our batting. We lost a few wickets in the middle part of the innings. We also need to improve a little bit in our bowling."

That wraps up our coverage of this game. The next match between England and Ireland will be played at the same venue. Looks like the start of it will be delayed due to the rain. Do switch tabs to follow the live-updates. For now, this is Akshay Bhide, signing off, on behalf of my co-commentator Dev Rajawat, scorer Raju Khariya and stats guy Aman. Bye bye.