Nilakshika Silva (ex-Cricbuzz)

Nilakshika Silva smashed a brilliant unbeaten half-century as Sri Lanka recorded a memorable five-wicket win over defending champions New Zealand in Group 2 of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2026 at The Rose Bowl in Southampton on Tuesday.The win marked Sri Lanka’s first success of the tournament and provided a major boost to their campaign, while New Zealand’s title defense suffered another blow after suffering a second consecutive defeat.Sri Lanka completed the target of 151 runs with one ball remaining. Silva led the innings brilliantly with an unbeaten 54 and found an ideal partner in Kaushani Nuthyangana, whose 24-run knock helped the pair stitch an unbroken 48-run partnership for the sixth wicket to seal victory for their team.Thanks to captain Chamari Athapaththu, Sri Lanka made a confident start. After escaping early chances when she was on seven, the left-hander bounced back and scored 27 runs in just 19 balls. However, his dismissal at the end of the powerplay led to a dramatic change in momentum.New Zealand immediately took advantage and Sri Lanka slipped from 45/1 to 55/4. Vishami Gunaratne scored 17 runs, Harshitha Samarawickrama scored five runs, while Hassani Perera was out after scoring two runs as the chase was in danger of being abandoned.With the innings at a crossroads, Kavisha Dilhari and Silva made significant improvements. The pair added 50 valuable runs to chase down the target and revive Sri Lanka’s hopes. Dilhari scored 17 runs before being run out in the 15th over, leaving the responsibility of taking the team to victory on Silva.The left handed batsman gave a brilliant reply. With Nutyangana, she efficiently chased during the closing stages. Sri Lanka needed 16 runs from the last two overs, but both scored 11 runs in the 19th over and reduced the equation to just five runs in the last over. After this he remained calm under the pressure of winning with one ball remaining.Earlier, New Zealand, batting first, scored 150/6. Their innings got off to a bad start when Isabella Gaze was out after scoring four runs in the opening over.Georgia Plimmer scored 18 runs and made a partnership of 49 runs with the captain. amelia kerrWho once again led from the front. Kerr made 45 and looked to be on his way to a big score before being caught in the deep during the 13th over.After this, Sophie Devine tried to increase the scoring rate and made a good contribution of 45 runs, while Maddy Green remained unbeaten on 18 runs. However, Sri Lanka’s bowlers continued to apply pressure and prevented New Zealand from taking full advantage during the latter half of the innings.The Sri Lankan attack produced a disciplined collective performance, consisting of five bowlers. Kavisha Dilhari performed brilliantly and took 2 wickets for 35 runs in her four overs as she played a vital role with both bat and ball.After restricting New Zealand to 150/6 and then successfully chasing the target through Silva’s match-winning innings, Sri Lanka celebrated a historic win that could prove crucial in their quest to make the knockout stage.Brief Score:New Zealand, 150/6 in 20 overs (Amelia Kerr 45, Sophie Devine 45; Kavisha Dilhari 2/35) lost to Sri Lanka 153/5 in 19.4 overs (Neelaksika Silva 54*, Chamari Athapaththu 27; Nancy Patel 2/23) by five wickets.