New Zealand beat Sri Lanka by four wickets with one ball to spare in the third T20 match to clinch the series 2. Won by 1. Opener Tim Seifert scored 88 off 48 balls as New Zealand chased down the target in the last over. Earlier, Sri Lanka had scored 182 runs for six wickets. Sri Lanka won the first match in a super over while New Zealand won the second match by nine wickets. Seifert scored 79 runs in 43 balls in the second match as well. For Sri Lanka, Kusal Mendis scored 73 runs in 48 balls while Pathum Nissanka scored 25 and Kusal Perera scored 33 runs.
Mendis hit six fours and five sixes in his innings while Seifert hit ten fours and three sixes. Seifert shared a 53-run partnership with Chad Bowes for the first wicket and added 84 runs in 52 balls for the second wicket with captain Tom Latham (31). New Zealand’s score was 153 for four when Seifert was dismissed. At that time he needed 30 runs in 23 balls. New Zealand needed 17 runs in the last two overs and 10 runs in the last over.
Mark Chapman hit a six off the first ball but was out on the next. Jimmy Neesham was run out without playing a single ball. Now New Zealand needed three runs in four balls and five wickets were left. Daryl Mitchell (15) played an aerial shot on the next ball and was caught. New Zealand lost three wickets in a row and now needed three runs in three balls. Rachin Ravindra and Adam Milne took a single off the next ball. Ravindra scored two runs on the fifth ball to give the team the victory.
