Discipline as they say bears fruit always. That is exactly what happened when New Zealanders defended a modest total 141 in front of an all-conquering Sri Lanka that literally were humbled on a day when the World Twenty20 finalists were restricted to 138-9 in a tense finish at the Premadasa stadium.
Oram finished with an interesting hat-trick, only the second instance after Brett Lee’s against Bangladesh in the ICC World Twenty20 tournament in 2007 in South Africa.
The lanky Kiwi dismissed Mathews off the last ball of the 17th over, before taking wickets off the first two balls of the final over. Oram finished with 3-33 and skipper Vettori took 2-11 as Sri Lanka lost seven wickets for 71 runs after Tillakaratne Dilshan’s brilliant 57 off 28 had lifted them to 67-2 in the seventh over.
Earlier in the day, the Kiwi innings revolved around Ross Taylor’s 60 off 45 balls after Vettori won the toss and elected to bat on the slow wicket.
Taylor hit five fours and a six in his third Twenty20 half-century. Taylor brought up New Zealand’s 100 in the 15th over with a boundary off Sanath Jayasuriya, and celebrated the landmark by pulling the next delivery over mid-wicket for six.
The discipline showcased by the Black Caps goes to show that Twenty20 is as unpredictable as the weather in Old Trafford, Manchester.
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