The BLACKCAPS have been knocked out of the ICC World Twenty20 by Sri Lanka after losing by 48 runs at Trent Bridge in Nottingham.
Sri Lanka were in trouble early after winning the toss and electing to bat, with Sanath Jayasuriya getting caught off a top edge in the first over off the spin bowling of Nathan McCullum and Chamara Silva skying one to mid-on off Kyle Mills in the fourth.
A 62 run partnership between Tillakaratne Dilshan and Kumar Sangakkara steadied the innings before Daniel Vettori snared the big wicket of Dilshan who was particularly aggressive hitting 48 off 38 balls.
The BLACKCAPS pulled things back in the middle overs before Mahela Jayawardene hit three consecutive boundaries off Kyle Mills in the 16th over.
Daniel Vettori struck again in the 18th over to get rid of Sangakkara for 35 and Ian Butler removed Jehan Mubarak in the 19th for 8.
Jayawardene continued to find the gaps in the field and finished with an unbeaten 41 off 29 as the Sri Lankans put 158 on the board.
Daniel Vettori took two for 32 with Nathan McCullum the most economical with one for 22.
It was an aggressive start to their reply with Aaron Redmond smashing three fours and a six off consecutive balls in the second over but Isuru Udana put the pressure back on the BLACKCAPS when he removed Brendon McCullum for 10 in the third.
Redmond was deceived by a slower one from Lasith Malinga for 23 in the fifth over as the BLACKCAPS started to look shaky at 39 for two.
The problems were compounded when Ajantha Mendis dismissed Ross Taylor for eight and Scott Styris for two in the ninth over.
Oram didn’t last long being removed for 7 off 12 balls and when Martin Guptill went in the next over for 43 off 33 the BLACKCAPS were in all sorts of trouble.
The wickets kept tumbling with Peter McGlashan, Nathan McCullum and Daniel Vettori and Kyle Mills dismissed for 12 runs in the space of 19 balls.
Ajantha Mendis was the chief destroyer for Sri Lanka taking three for nine off three overs.
