{"id":181223,"date":"2026-06-16T14:30:09","date_gmt":"2026-06-16T20:00:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newslink360.space\/?p=181223"},"modified":"2026-06-16T14:30:09","modified_gmt":"2026-06-16T20:00:09","slug":"womens-t20-world-cup-2026-sri-lanka-stuns-new-zealand-to-dent-title-defense","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newslink360.space\/?p=181223","title":{"rendered":"Women\u2019s T20 World Cup 2026: Sri Lanka stuns New Zealand to dent title defense"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n<\/p>\n

Sri Lanka crippled New Zealand\u2019s title defense at the Women\u2019s Twenty20 World Cup with a comeback victory on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

Sri Lanka beat New Zealand for the first time in a World Cup after Nilakshika Silva and Kaushini Nuthyangana combined for an unbeaten 48 runs off 28 balls to reach the 151 target with two balls remaining at the Rose Bowl.<\/p>\n

New Zealand has lost its first two group matches. Only one team in tournament history has advanced to the semifinals with two defeats \u2014 South Africa at home in 2023.<\/p>\n

New Zealand was tainted again by dropped catches; six in the opening loss to the West Indies and three more against Sri Lanka, two of them key.<\/p>\n

Sri Lanka captain Chamari Athapaththu was put down on 6 and made 27 to start their charge in the powerplay, and Silva was dropped on 1 and made 54 not out.<\/p>\n

ALSO READ | Women\u2019s T20 World Cup 2026: Opening weekend smashes viewership records, Indian fans drive surge<\/a><\/b><\/p>\n

Sri Lanka ended up 153-5 in reply to New Zealand\u2019s 150-6.<\/p>\n

\u201cNew Zealand is one of the best teams and the world champions, and the tournament favorites,\u201d Athapaththu said. \u201cWe beat them and it means we can beat anyone in the comp, we just need to execute our plans.\u201d<\/p>\n

An unchanged New Zealand from the West Indies loss on Saturday chose to bat first on the same pitch but only captain Melie Kerr and Sophie Devine got going with 45s.<\/p>\n

The two were battering Sri Lanka together until Kerr was caught on the boundary. Devine gave New Zealand hope but she was caught on the boundary, too, in the 18th over, and the Kiwis collected only 11 runs off the last two overs.<\/p>\n

New Zealand had already dropped two catches in Sri Lanka\u2019s chase when Georgia Plimmer took a brilliant grab running in from long-on. The ball slipped between her hands but she trapped it with her knees during a run of four Sri Lanka wickets in four overs.<\/p>\n

It should have been five in five but Silva turned her life on 1 into a player-of-the-match performance.<\/p>\n

When Kavisha Dilhara ran herself out at 105-5 in the 15th, Sri Lanka appeared to be on the ropes. But Silva\u2019s second T20 fifty in 13 years and Nuthyangana\u2019s career-best 24 rushed Sri Lanka to the win after its opening hiding from England.<\/p>\n

Published on Jun 17, 2026<\/p>\n<\/div>\n


\n
Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sri Lanka crippled New Zealand\u2019s title defense at the Women\u2019s Twenty20 World Cup with a comeback victory on Tuesday. Sri Lanka beat New Zealand for the first time in a…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":181224,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-181223","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/newslink360.space\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/GettyImages-2281918106.jpg","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":181090,"url":"https:\/\/newslink360.space\/?p=181090","url_meta":{"origin":181223,"position":0},"title":"NZ-W vs SL-W Live Score, Women\u2019s T20 World Cup 2026: Mithali removes Gaze; Toss updates","author":"Ajay Kumar Verma","date":"June 16, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"TOSS New Zealand opts to bat in Southampton. Hasini Perera returns for Sri Lanka. New Zealand unchanged Both New Zealand and Sri Lanka come into this fixture in Southampton after facing losses in their campaign openers in the ongoing Women\u2019s T20 World Cup 2026. Sri Lanka was outplayed by England\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Sports"","block_context":{"text":"Sports","link":"https:\/\/newslink360.space\/?cat=9"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newslink360.space\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/WhatsApp20Image202026-06-1620at2018.53.00.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newslink360.space\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/WhatsApp20Image202026-06-1620at2018.53.00.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newslink360.space\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/WhatsApp20Image202026-06-1620at2018.53.00.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newslink360.space\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/WhatsApp20Image202026-06-1620at2018.53.00.jpeg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newslink360.space\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/WhatsApp20Image202026-06-1620at2018.53.00.jpeg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":174446,"url":"https:\/\/newslink360.space\/?p=174446","url_meta":{"origin":181223,"position":1},"title":"Sri Lanka squad for Women\u2019s T20 World Cup 2026\u2014Full list of players announced","author":"Ajay Kumar Verma","date":"May 30, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Veteran allrounder Chamari Athapaththu will lead Sri Lanka in the upcoming Women\u2019s T20 World Cup with the island nation announcing its 15-member squad for the showpiece. 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