46th Match, Super Eights, Group 2 (N), Colombo (RPS), February 25, 2026, ICC Men’s T20 World Cup

10.45pm There then, this is all wrapped up: Sri Lanka out of this tournament, New Zealand alive and kicking. They’ll play England next. A lot rides on that result for them. And Pakistan will be looking at the NRR columns with a keen eye too, ahead of their own games. The calculators will be out soon enough. For now, a good night from Ranjith, Raghav, Abhimanyu and I. Thanks for joining us here at ESPNcricinfo, and we’ll see you soon!

Now Mitchell Santner saunters down to the presentation area. “The longer we could take them, we were thinking 140… 160 was not bad from there,” he says. “One of those wickets where if you get in, give yourself a bit of time, you can cash in. It looked like a pretty good wicket, spun more than we thought. Control your lengths. Fantastic with McConchie. We were 3 off 10 each, probably, but we talked with each other. It was nice. The stats say, whether Super Eight or before, it spins more when you bowl slower. I didn’t need a second invitation. [England] are outstanding obviously, quick turnaround for us, we’ll see how the pitch plays.”

And now, the captains speak. First, the losing captain, Dasun Shanaka: “It is really embarassing to disappoint the home crowd. We started really well, but to be honest, that Santner partnership was a good one. Took the game away from us. Also, the decision to bowl first… We didn’t expect the pitch to turn this much, because it’s a new pitch. Wanted to restrict them under 130, but to be honest, they played really well. [Kusal] came into the game with an issue… But it’s just that kind of day, no one got a start for us. I thought the wicket might settle since it’s a new pitch, but the areas they bowled – we didn’t bowl there. Occasionally, but not all the time we were hitting the length. Give credit to New Zealand bowlers. One more game, we finish it on a high. Hopefully our best game. The batsmen need to take responsibility up top. Can’t rely on one or two batsmen in a game. If you get out, take the positive option. You can be relaxed in the dugout. It is T20 cricket, you need to show the intent a little more.”

Here’s Player of the Match, Rachin Ravindra, for his all-round display! He says: “It’s always pleasing to take a win like that. Amazing, specially at their home, awesome performance. I guess understanding that slower was better, and a few stats were put out there… Under 85ks. Santner is obviously a master at that craft, so we decided slower is the plan. The Sri Lanka crowd is fantastic… Reminds you why you play the game. There was a period where they were screaming ‘New Zealand, New Zealand’, so credit to them…”

10.30pm What a bowling defense: this sends a message out to the rest of the teams still alive in this competition. Rachin Ravindra’s 4 for 27 was just the icing on the cake after Matt Henry ripped out Nissanka first ball of this chase. The going only got worse from there, to be honest, and Sri Lanka never looked likely to chase this down. They’ll have to go back to the drawing board and reconstruct this T20 eleven, you’d think. New Zealand, meanwhile, wear smiles on their faces as they shake hands with each other and the opposition.

Also, our resident stats-chief Rajesh pings us with the scenario ahead for teams in this group: If NZ lose to Eng by 20 runs, Pak will have to beat SL by 50 runs. Basically the sum of the margins should be around 70 runs. Go figure!