New Zealand take advantage of sloppy fielding in victory over Sri Lanka

Hayley Jensen played a fine hand with the ball and Sophie Devine struck her sixth consecutive T20I fifty as the White Ferns secured a seven-wicket win at the WACA

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Sri Lanka were made to pay for a poor fielding display as New Zealand delivered a seven-wicket victory at the WACA.

Suzie Bates and skipper Sophie Devine were both dropped in the White Ferns’ pursuit of 128 - two batsmen you cannot afford to offer lives to.

Bates was gifted a second chance when she guided her first ball to Harshitha Madavi who shelled a simple catch which would have the dangerous batsman on her way back to the pavilion.

Two overs later Devine was dropped on 18. The 30-year-old hit high towards long-on where Ama Kanchane, running towards the rope never looked like snaffling the chance with the ball dropping over her shoulder.

Bates would fall for 13, but the two spills had allowed the pair to add 40 together and set the platform for the remainder of the chase.

Devine ensured that Sri Lanka would pay the price for putting her down earlier in the piece, bringing up her sixth successive T20I fifty - a record in both men’s and women’s T20Is. The skipper found her rhythm more and more as the innings progressed, clearing the boundary rope twice once the half-century was brought up.

Maddy Green (29 off 20) provided a very useful contribution alongside her captain as New Zealand sealed victory with 14 balls to spare.

West Indies' World Cup campaign off to a winning start at the WACA

Having been put into bat first, Sri Lanka, led by Chamari Atapattu reached 51 for no loss at the end of the Powerplay.

Atapattu showed her class, punishing any width with disdain. Alongside her captain, Hasini Perera was busy at the crease, dragging bowlers off their line and lengths as the pair added 60 for the first wicket.

New Zealand's breakthrough came with the introduction of 19-year-old Amelia Kerr whose leg-spin tempted Perera into a full-blooded sweep against a googly which planted into middle stump.

The key turning point followed when the Sri Lanka captain fell to Lea Tahuhu. Atapattu fended one straight back to the bowler, and after a review for a bump ball, had to leave the field, hammering her blade into the ground in frustration as she departed.

The captain’s dismissal derailed her team’s confident start as New Zealand turned the screw.

Hayley Jensen took over with the ball and struck twice in her third over to remove Anushka Sanjeewani and Shashikala Siriwardene.

The White Ferns then found two wickets in two deliveries as Sri Lanka’s hopes of pushing towards 150 stalled. Nilakshi de Silva top-edged Sophie Devine delivery to Kerr at point before Kerr herself struck with the first ball of the next over to remove Ama Kanchana for a golden duck.

Jensen picked up a third in the 20th over on her way to equalling her career-best figures (3 for 16) having strangled the Sri Lankans’ efforts with the bat.