New Zealand pace bowler Matt Henry claimed three early wickets, including two in successive deliveries, to put Sri Lanka on the back foot in his team’s opening World Cup match on Saturday.
Henry struck with the second delivery of the game to send Lahiru Thirimanne trudging back to the pavilion after the left-handed opener had hit a boundary from the first ball.
Thirimanne was initially ruled not out by the on-field umpire, but the Kiwis successfully reviewed the lbw call in their favour after replays suggested the ball pitched on line and would have hit the batsman’s leg stump.
Skipper Dimuth Karunaratne then put on 42 runs for the second wicket with Kusal Perera at Cardiff’s Sophia Gardens.
But Kiwi captain Kane Williamson kept Henry on for the bowler’s fifth over and the move paid off as he got Perera for 29 and Kusal Mendis without scoring.
Dhananjaya de Silva played the hat-trick ball with a glorious off drive, but soon fell to the pace of Lockie Ferguson after being trapped lbw.
The 1996 champions were 53 for four at the end of 11 overs after being put into bat, with Karunaratne on 14.
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