New Zealand vs Sri Lanka, 3rd T20I at Nelson, NZ vs SL, Jan 02 2025 - Match Result

And as Mitchell Santner picks up the series trophy. Here's me, Sreshth Shah, saying goodbye to all of you. Thank you for your company for what was the first men's international of the new year. Here's wishing everyone a pleasant 2025 and fingers crossed we see such cracking games all year. On behalf of Ranjith P and Madushka Balasuriya as well, ta-ta!

Mitchell Santner, today's losing captain but series winning captain: "It was a pretty good surface but they made the most of it, made it tough for our bowlers. Made it fun for the crowd. (Home crowds) Nice to get around the country and see the turnout. Nice to perform in front of NZ crowds. (ODI series next) The way you play is pretty similar. We move on, we have to adapt to another surface in Wellington. Lots of positives, we were pretty good in all three games. Youngsters have performed and challenged themselves. That's all we can ask for."

Charith Asalanka, today's winning captain: "It's a good win for us. Throughout the series we have played good cricket but couldn't get a win. Finally, we got it. (Decision to bowl himself) I was bowling in home conditions but haven't bowled a lot in these conditions. But we had to try since we were short of one bowler so that was the decision to bowl. (ODI series next) It's a momentum shift for us. Adapting to conditions key to success here. NZ are playing very good cricket, congratulations to them for winning the T20I series. Hope to do well in the ODIs. (Perera's ton) Amazing. No words for that. It's after 2011 or something that we got a T20I century."

Jacob Duffy is Player of the Series for his eight wickets: "Very happy. Amazing series win, against a very strong SL team. Awesome to play a good role in the series win. It was good to be put under pressure at the death. They are a good batting unit. We were forced to dig deep. I'd love to [play a big role moving forward]. Just want to win games for your country. The crowd, this time of the year, it's been awesome. Hope for more."

Kusal Perera is the Player of the Match for his 46-ball 101: "Scoring a hundred is always special. When I went in to bat, I got a wake-up call in the first ball [bouncer hit him on the head] and it was good to get on from there. Normally, subcontinental tracks are effective for spinners, but fast bowlers dominate here. Last few games, couple of batters got starts but couldn't finish. But the coach said that batters who gets starts need to finish games."

We'll be joined by the two captains and the award winners shortly.

Anjana: "KJP need to stay for 50 Over game also"

5.18pm The visitors finish on the right side of this high-octane match. But only just. Asalanka conceded 25 runs in one over, sure, but his three-wicket haul and his 24-ball 46 ended up being winning contributions. Kusal Perera played his part by hitting SL's fastest T20I hundred. Those two men made the difference for SL today.

For NZ, their bowlers - except Duffy - took a beating, and it needed a T20I best performance from Rachin Ravindra to keep them in the hunt. He scored 69, and Daryl Mitchell threatened to derail SL later, but Hasaranga, Thushara and Binura put the brakes on the hosts' charge magnificently. The T20I series is complete, and SL get a consolation win after losing the first two games of the three-match series.

Foulkes wears a dejected look at the non-striker's. Santner walks up to him for a chat.

amit: "Exciting start to 2025!"

SL fans are on their feet.

SL are behind on the over-rate. So there'll be an extra fielder inside the circle. More gaps in the deep for Santner to potentially exploit.

Nikhil : "Don't sleep on Santner, he is a silent assassin. "

Oz: "@Random Economis - this time you can ignore the voices"

Random Economis: "There is a voice inside me saying SL gonna lose this given the past "