10pm: Right, thanks for keeping me company today. Your next stop should be Gnasher's report, then take your pick from more World Cup content, the day's second PSL fixture, or catching up with the goings on in Wellington earlier. We'll be back for more tomorrow, when there's Test action in New Zealand and Bangladesh, a T20I in South Africa, as well as day three at the WT20WC, when England and South Africa will start their campaigns. Toodle pip until then!

9.50pm: Time to wrap things up with the presentations, firstly with Player of the Match, Hayley Jensen: "It's been really good, a bit nervy at the start, which you could probably tell in our bowling, but good to get the first win out of the way. [WACA pitch?] Nice for me, makes me feel like a faster bowler, skidding on which suits me perfectly. Knew it was a good pitch with a fast outfield, they would come hard early but we picked up a couple of wickets, and stuck to our guns."

SL captain Chamari Atapattu: "We were good in the first six, but unfortunately I got out in the 12th over and the middle order struggled. NZ bowled well, and put pressure on our middle-order and lower-order batters. We tried to play to our potential, some can't hit sixes, so we look for doubles and we can score 6-7 runs an over, so we'll work on that. [Dropped catches?] Catches win matches, we lost three chances and two off Sophie Devine, so we couldn't stop her. I told my team to play positively, with courage, our natural game. If we want to level up we have to play freely. [Perth?] This wicket was good for batters, pace and bounce, I love to play here, but we have to adapt quickly in the next game."

NZ captain Sophie Devine: [Bad start?] "We knew we had to stay patient, we know the threat they posses at the top with Chamari. We didn't bowl consistently enough, she got away and played some great shots. But we knew if we got some wickets, we could tighten the screw. [Pitch?] Perth is a little bit bouncier, but that's no excuse, the way Hayley Jensen bowled was fantastic, she hit the deck hard and hit the top of the bat. Amelia [Kerr] is great for us, she has a calm head and it's great to throw her the ball when they're going well. [Raised game as captain?] Seems that way, we've had some fantastic leaders, Suzie Bates, Amy Satterthwaite, and I want to be the same, to lead from the front. I've challenged myself to be more consistent over the last 12-18 month. We practiced for this ground, and that worked. We're based at Melbourne for the next three games, so we'll get to know Junction Oval very well. We need to be tighter up top, be disciplined with ball and bat. We were under the pump for a good part of the match but nice to finish it off, Maddy Green played really well and that'll serve us well in this tournament."

9.45pm: New Zealand continue their dominance over Sri Lanka in this format, though it wasn't as comfortable as the final scorecard makes it look. If Sophie Devine had been taken at long-on when she had made 18, well, who knows how this chase would have gone? But in the end, New Zealand's captain rolled on to another half-century, guiding her team home with room to spare. Sri Lanka definitely had their moments, from 60 for 0 before a slow slide towards 127; then restricting NZ to 25 for 1 in the Powerplay. But they couldn't sustain it through the whole 40 overs, and those lapses in the field proved costly.

17.4
4
Kulasuriya to Devine, FOUR, sits back and guides this through backward point for another boundary, sealing a seven-wicket win for NZ!
17.3
4
Kulasuriya to Devine, FOUR, flashes hard, thick top edge, clears the keeper! Skips away and NZ are on the brink
17.2
1
Kulasuriya to Martin, 1 run, dug in short, Martin hoicks a pull into the leg side, lands safely for in a gap for one

Zubair Islam has spotted the key turning point for SL - removing Suzie Bates: "Fall of second wkt results in over 55 runs in 5 overs...match is done n dusted"

17.1
2
Kulasuriya to Martin, 2 runs, short of a length wide of off stump and sliced through backward point for a couple

Achini Kulasuriya to bowl

Just eight runs required, 18 balls left and seven wickets standing. This should be straightforward...

END OF OVER:
17 | 9 Runs 1 Wkt | NZ-W: 120/3 (8 runs required from 18 balls, RR: 7.05, RRR: 2.66)

  • Katey Martin1 (1b)
  • Sophie Devine67 (53b)
  • Chamari Athapaththu3-0-26-1
  • Udeshika Prabodhani4-1-16-0
16.6
1
Jayangani to Martin, 1 run, lobbed up full and straight and worked for a single to leg

Katey Martin is next in

16.5
W
Jayangani to Green, OUT, bowled 'er! Atapattu rolls out a finger-wagging celebration as Green swings across the line and misses a straight one... But is that too little too late for Sri Lanka?

ML Green b Jayangani 29 (20b 2x4 1x6) SR: 145.00

16.4
1
Jayangani to Devine, 1 run, flat outside off, Devine slugs down the ground to long-off
16.3
6
Jayangani to Devine, SIX, dropped! De Silva lets it pop through her grasp at deep midwicket, gifting six into the bargain! More frustration for Atapattu, the game slipping away for SL
16.2
0
Jayangani to Devine, no run, flighted, comes across outside off, punched to extra cover

NZ Women 2nd innings Partnerships

WktRunsPlayers
1st18RH PriestSFM Devine
2nd40SW BatesSFM Devine
3rd61SFM DevineML Green
4th12KJ MartinSFM Devine