Sri Lanka nearly pull off miracle result after terrible effort with the bat.
New Zealand have won its opening Champions Trophy clash, but they did it the hard way.
Chasing a mere 139 for the all-important points in their Pool A clash at Cardiff, an inspired effort in the field by Sri Lanka saw them nearly snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.
However, the Black Caps’ tail end did enough to sneak home to secure the important one-wicket win.
After bowling out their opponents with 12 overs left of their allotted overs, the Kiwis began their innings before lunch, losing Luke Ronchi for just seven.
But the rot in the New Zealand innings started after long break when the Sri Lankans struck through three different bowlers to see the score fall to 49-4.
Brendon McCullum attempted to steady the innings in the middle-order with 18 before he was sent packing as the Sri Lankans climbed back into the contest at 115-7.
Nathan McCullum looked to be the savior for the Black Caps, but when Lasith Malinga dismissed him for 32 leg-before-wicket, the Kiwis still needed 17 runs with just two wickets in hand.
The 34th over was a turning point for both sides when Malinga speared in a in-swinging yorker, only to see it squirt past short third-man and down to the boundary.
The loud appeals of the Sri Lankan side were waved away by the umpire, despite video evidence clearly showing the ball striking Tim Southee on the foot first in front of the middle stump.
But with no video challenges up their sleeve, the Sri Lankans were forced to wonder what might have been.
Soon after, the game took a turn towards the bizarre when a throw by mid-on fielder Thisara Perera at the non-strikers end missed, before it hit the stumps at the other end, amazingly catching Kyle Mills short of his ground.
Southee did well to dig out the last over from Malinga to see New Zealand still need four runs to save victory.
Tillakaratne Dilshan was then brought on as a calculated risk by the Sri Lankas, but the final New Zealand pair of Southee and Mitch McClenaghan were happy to nudge the ball around rather than try and get all of the runs in one blow.
Despite the drama in the hours leading up to the 37th over, the game finished in an anti-climatic fashion when the New Zealand batsman ran a single after a wide, to ensure the victory.
Champions Trophy
New Zealand v Sri Lanka
Played at Cardiff
Toss won by Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka Innings
K. Perera c B. McCullum b Mills 0
T. Dilshan b McClenaghan 20
K. Sangakkara c Williamson b N. McCullum 68
M. Jayawardene lbw b Vettori 4
D. Chandimal c Ronchi b Mills 0
A. Mathews b McClenaghan 9
L. Thirimanne run out 9
T. Perera c Vettori b McClenaghan 15
R. Herath not out 8
S. Eranga c Mills b N. McCullum 0
L. Malinga c Taylor b McClenaghan 2
Extras: (lb1, w2) 3
Total (all out, 37.5 overs) 138
Fall of wickets: 1-0 (K. Perera), 2-27 (Dilshan), 3-33 (Jayawardene), 4-34 (Chandimal), 5-65 (Mathews), 6-82 (Thirimanne), 7-118 (T. Perera), 8-135 (Sangakkara), 9-135 (Eranga), 10-138 (Malinga).
Bowling: Mills 6-0-14-2, McClenaghan 8.5-0-43-4 (w1), Vettori 6-1-16-1, Southee 7-1-25-0 (w1), N. McCullum 8-0-23-2, Williamson 2-0-16-0
New Zealand Innings
M. Guptill c Jayawardene b Eranga 25
L. Ronchi c Sangakkara b Eranga 7
K. Williamson lbw b Malinga 16
R. Taylor lbw b Herath 0
J. Franklin lbw b Dilshan 6
B. McCullum b Malinga 18
D. Vettori lbw b Malinga 5
N. McCullum lbw b Malinga 32
T. Southee not out 13
K. Mills run out 3
M. McClenaghan not out 1
Extras: (lbn8, w5) 13
Total (for nine wickets, 36.3 overs) 139
Fall of wickets: 1-14 (Ronchi), 2-48 (Williamson), 3-49 (Taylor), 4-49 (Guptill), 5-70 (Franklin), 6-80 (Vettori), 7-115 (B. McCullum), 8-122 (N. McCullum), 9-134 (Mills).
Bowling: Malinga 10-2-34-4 (w2), Eranga 8-0-45-2 (w1), Herath 10-0-36-1, Dilshan 6.3-1-12-1 (w2), T. Perera 2-0-4-0
New Zealand won by one wicket
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