Kiwis beat SL in women’s T20 WC

PERTH, Australia: New Zealand captain Sophie Devine says her team is comfortable to "fly under the radar" after starting the women’s Twenty20 World Cup with a seven-wicket victory over Sri Lanka in Perth on Saturday.

The Kiwis have made the early running in Group A along with India, who downed defending champions Australia on day one. Only the top two from each of the two five-team groups qualify for the knockout phase. Favoured New Zealand battled chasing 128 against Sri Lanka until Devine capitalised on two dropped chances en route to a match-winning unbeaten 75. After a nervous start, Devine found support through Maddy Green in a 61-run third-wicket partnership to power New Zealand to victory with 14 balls to spare. New Zealand still face a battle to reach the semi-finals with tough matches against India and Australia ahead.

Devine, however, said her team was not bothered about being underestimated.

New Zealand had started sloppily with the ball before clawing back and restricting Sri Lanka to 127-7 off 20 overs with allrounder Haley Jensen (3-16) starring on the bouncy WACA pitch. After being sent in to bat, Sri Lanka feasted on wayward New Zealand bowling with openers Chamari Athapaththu and Hasini Perera combining for a rapid 46-ball 60-run partnership.