Rain In Pallekele Frustrates Sri Lanka And New Zealand

Rain In Pallekele Frustrates Sri Lanka And New Zealand

The ground staff were kept busy by the rain in Pallekele whcih eventually caused the Twenty20 International between New Zealand and Sri Lanka to be abandoned

©REUTERS / Action Images

New Zealand 74-7 v Sri Lanka 6-0 - match abandoned
Twenty20 International, Pallakele
Scorecard

New Zealand's tour of Sri Lanka got off to a soggy start as the only Twenty20 International was abandoned due to rain in Pallekele.

After a delayed start and interruptions during the game, New Zealand limped to 74 for seven in 14 overs and Sri Lanka had completed just two overs of their run chase when the rain returned to finally end the contest.

At 28 for six in the 10th over having been put in to bat by Angelo Mathews, it was not unreasonable to suspect that the only way New Zealand were going to avoid defeat was for the rain to return.

Fortunately for them, Andrew Ellis (16), Jacob Oram (10 not out) and Tim Southee (21 not out) were able to add some late runs - 40 coming in the final four overs.

The wickets tumbled early as Sri Lanka took full advantage of the overhead conditions. Nuwan Kulasekara struck quickly to have Tom Latham bowled for four and then Brendon McCullum caught by Thisara Perera for four.

Perera was in the wickets himself when he had both Ross Taylor (4) and James Franklin (2) caught behind, the former trying to cut too close to his body and the latter strangling one down the leg side.

Rob Nicol was trapped in front by Shaminda Eranga for one while Akila Dananjaya also joined his senior team-mates with a brace of wickets, his spin accounting for BJ Watling (8) and Ellis.

Oram flicked one boundary while Southee struck four as New Zealand's lower order managed to succeed where the specialist batsmen had failed.

Kulasekara returned figures of two for 13, Perera two for 22 and Dananjaya two for nine.

There was little action of note in the 12 balls delivered by New Zealand, although Tillakaratne Dilshan was dropped on two - the score he closed on.

Dilshan Munaweera made four as Sri Lanka made a cautious start to chasing a revised target of 72 before the rain arrived once more.

© Cricket World 2012