Watch: During the second T20I, in Dunedin, Adam Milne destroyed Pathum Nissanka’s bat with an express pace delivery.
New Zealand, who started the game 0-1 down in the three-match series, opted to bowl in the second T20I at the University Oval. Milne bowled the first over, and Nissanka defended his initial three balls without incident.
Milne then dragged back his length and sent down a short ball, which Nissanka swivel-pulled for the first four of the match.
Milne’s next ball was just short of good length. There was little wrong with Nissanka’s response of defending the ball from the crease. The ball hit the bat high up on its face, close to where the handle meets the blade.
The bat immediately snapped into two… almost. The two parts were barely clinging on to each other with only a few splinters joining the towa pieces. Clearly it had to be replaced.
Nissanka safely armed with a new bat, Milne went for the bouncer again. But, in a perfect start to his relationship with his new blade, Nissanka safely pulled him for four once more.
Milne had the last laugh, however. In his next over, Nissanka tried to flick him, but the top edge went to deep third giving New Zealand an early breakthrough.
Kusal Perera (35) and Dhananjaya de Silva (37) took Sri Lanka to 91-2 before they collapsed to 141 in 19 overs as Milne (5-26) ran through them.
Chad Bowes (31 in 15 balls) and Tim Seifert (79 not out in 43) then saw New Zealand romp home inside 15 overs to level the series.
Watch Adam Milne destroy Pathum Nissanka’s bat here:
🚨 BROKEN BAT 🚨
Adam Milne with a ☄️ breaking Nissanka’s bat 😮Watch BLACKCAPS v Sri Lanka live and on-demand on Spark Sport #SparkSport #NZvSL pic.twitter.com/F2uI6NiUni
— Spark Sport (@sparknzsport) April 5, 2023