NZ-W vs SL-W

Less than half an hour to go for the second match of this double header, hosts England will take on neighbors Ireland at the same venue but for now the covers are on as it is raining. Switch tabs to follow the live action here, this is Sourabh Agrawal signing off on behalf of Bidipto Datta and everyone else involved in this one. Cheers!

Chamari Athapaththu (Sri Lanka Women captain): It is a good win. It was a must win for us, otherwise we would not have a chance. As a batting unit, we executed her plans. Nilkashi played really well, young Kaushani was not in form but she did the job today. Special credit to our fielding coach. We have struggled with our fielding but today we were good. Every game is very important for us, I know New Zealand is a very good side. They are the defending champions and the favorites. We have beaten them which means that we can beat anyone. We need to execute our plans. Need to imporve in our batting, we lost a couple of wickets in the middle. Need to improve in the bowling as well

Amelia Kerr (New Zealand captain): "I thought the wicket was a touch slower, and the nature of their bowling attack made it more tough. But, I think we had enough runs. But the fielding let us down. And, I thought they ran well between the wickets. The partnership to finish the match was brilliant too! Me getting out at the wrong time wasn't helpful either. Three games to go, we're still in it. But we must improve our fielding and get back to standards." 

Nilakshi de Silva (Player of the Match, 54 match-winning unbeaten runs from 37 balls!): "I played really well that day too, in the 50-overs World Cup against them, and I did my bit today as well! I played my game, and backed my natural instinct. Just wanted to rotate strike and keep taking it deep. That was the way to go for Kaushani (Nuthyangana) and me." 

5:45 PM local time, 10:15 PM IST: MATCH SUMMARY

Sri Lanka Women (153/5 in 19.4 overs) beat New Zealand Women (150/6 in 20 overs) by 5 wickets

Nilakshika de Silva 54*(37) | Kavisha Dilhari 2/35(4)
Amelia Kerr 45(30) | Nensi Patel 2/23(4)

The heavens open up as soon as Kaushani hits the winning runs, how dramatic is that! The Sri Lankan Women are jumping along in joy, they have beaten New Zealand for the first time ever in T20 World Cup cricket and they do so when the Kiwis are the defending champions

Nilashika de Silva remains unbeaten on 54*, it was just her second fifty in T20Is just like it was the first ever for Shemaine Campbelle when West Indies downed the defending champions at this very venue three days ago, and she formed a crucial partnership of 48* off 28 with the wicketkeeper Kaushani Nuthyangana to take Sri Lanka over the line

Remember, Bree Illing put down a sitter at short fine when de Silva was just on 1 and the uncanny similarity between the two New Zealand defeats is quite unbelievable. New Zealand lost the game in the field against West Indies, you could say they have done the same today as well but this will go down as one of the most special nights in Sri Lanka Women's cricket history

150 with the bat was an under par effort from New Zealand, as Sophie Devine mentioned in the innings break. Sri Lanka made a cautious start, the openers played and missed a bit and they were only 16/0 in the first 4 overs. However, Chamari took down Jess Kerr and doubled the runs in the very next over. She then smacked three more boundaries in the next over before Bree Illing cleaned her up a couple of balls later.

New Zealand did come back with the ball, Sri Lanka went for 45/0 to 55/4 within a couple of overs but then a couple of brilliant partnerships, both including de Silva sealed a historic win for them

19.4 Sophie Devine to Kaushani Nuthyangana, SRI LANKA WIN! SRI LANKA COMPLETE THEIR BEST-EVER PERFORMANCE IN T20 WORLD CUPS! SRI LANKA GET THE BETTER OF THE DEFENDING CHAMPIONS! SRI LANKA, WITH SOME BRILLIANT INDIVIDUAL EFFORTS FROM EVERYWHERE, PICK UP THEIR FIRST WIN OF THE TOURNAMENT! Full and a bit slow on middle-stump. Kaushani advances a touch, clears the front leg slightly, bends the back knee and heaves it through the in-field, down to the vacant deep square-leg boundary! 

2 needed from 3, Kaushini on strike on 20* off 13. The keeper is going up to the stumps now, big meeting in the NZ camp. Devine having a chat with the skipper Amelia Kerr and Maddy Green. Now she is ready to bowl, there is a short mid-off in place

19.3 Sophie Devine to Nilakshi de Silva, full and around off-stump. Stroked off the front foot to the covers, and the batters sprint through for a single! Good dive from Nilakshi as well! 

19.2 Sophie Devine to Nilakshi de Silva, OHHHH! Yorker, following the batter down leg. Nilakshi tried to make room and clip it, but got beaten on the inside edge. The bye wasn't possible either.

19.1 Sophie Devine to Nilakshi de Silva, into the wicket and on off-stump. Nilakshi advances, top-edges the shot on the charge and picks up two to long-leg! 

Sri Lanka Women need 5 runs off the last over to beat New Zealand Women for the first time ever in World Cups. Got to say that this is theirs to lose now. de Silva will be on strike on 51*

18.6 Rosemary Mair to Kaushani Nuthyangana, on the good length and slow on middle. Swiped around from down on one knee, to long-on's left, for a well-run two! 

18.5 Rosemary Mair to Nilakshi de Silva, pitched up on middle-and-leg. Nilakshi gets on to the front foot and mistimes the shot down to long-on, for a single. The attempted shot was a cover drive!