Sri Lanka make steady inroads
March 28, 2011Martin Guptill dropped anchor for New Zealand with a gritty 39 from 65 balls, but Sri Lanka's varied attack was beginning to exert its influence on a worn surface at the Premadasa Stadium, as they claimed three key scalps to restrict their opponents to 93 for 3 after 25 overs of their semi-final clash in Colombo.
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After winning the toss and choosing to bat first, New Zealand set themselves to be positive from the outset, with Guptill leaning into a fine flick over midwicket to dispatch Lasith Malinga's fifth delivery to the boundary. Brendon McCullum followed suit by galloping down the track to loft Rangana Herath's second ball down the ground, and then dropped to one knee to time a superb sweep over square leg for six.
top-scoring with a solid if somewhat ponderous 86.
