Sri Lanka Women pulled off the upset of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup so far, beating defending champions New Zealand by five wickets at the Rose Bowl in Southampton on Tuesday to keep their semi-final hopes alive and leave the White Ferns on the brink of an early exit.

Chasing 151, Sri Lanka were reduced to 55 for four inside nine overs after captain Chamari Athapaththu was bowled by Bree Illing for 27 and Nensi Patel removed Vishmi Gunaratne and Harshitha Samarawickrama. From there Nilakshika Silva — referred to by BBC Sport as Nilakshi de Silva — anchored the chase with an unbeaten 54 off 37 balls, including five fours and a six, sharing a 50-run fifth-wicket stand with Kavisha Dilhari and then a winning partnership of 48 with Kaushini Nuthyangana, who finished on 24 not out. Sri Lanka reached 153 for five with two balls to spare.

New Zealand had earlier been put in by Sri Lanka and made 150 for six. Captain Melie Kerr top-scored with 45 from 36 balls and former captain Sophie Devine matched her with 45 off 30 before being caught at long-on off Sugandika Kumari. Sri Lanka’s bowling was spread across the attack — Kavisha Dilhari took two for 35 while Mithali Ayodhya, Kumari, Athapaththu and Nimasha Meepage picked up one wicket apiece.

Silva was named Player of the Match. The BBC noted that New Zealand dropped three further catches after a similar showing in their opening loss to West Indies, including a chance to dismiss Silva on one — a moment that proved decisive.

The result puts Sri Lanka on two points in Group 2 after their 87-run opening defeat to hosts England at Edgbaston, while New Zealand — beaten by West Indies in their tournament opener — are facing elimination. Tuesday’s win was the must-win Group 2 fixture both sides went into needing after losing their openers, and follows a warm-up win over the Netherlands earlier in the tournament. Athapaththu’s 15-player squad, named in late May ahead of the trip to England, had been considered an outsider for the knockouts.

Sources: BBC Sport, June 16 · Newswire, June 16 · Ada Derana, June 16