Georgia Plimmer's quickfire half-century (53 in 44 balls, with four boundaries) helped New Zealand to a convincing eight-wicket win over Sri Lanka to boost their chances of a top two finish in a highly-competitive Group A the ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2024, reaching a winning score of 118/2 with 2.3 overs remaining on Saturday.
New Zealand will go into their final group fixture against Pakistan on Monday knowing exactly what they require to qualify from a group in which four teams remain mathematically in contention to reach the final four.
But this result means that Sri Lanka become the first team to see their tournament come to a complete end, departing without a win in their now-concluded group schedule.
Sri Lanka were unable to reach the knockout stages after three defeats in three games, but put in a much-improved performance thanks largely to captain Chamari Athapaththu's classy 35 at the top of the order.
White Ferns all-rounder Melie Kerr ensured that Athapaththu did not kick on after a decent start, and played a crucial role in stifling Sri Lanka through the middle overs, taking 2/13 in four overs.
And Kerr (34* in 31 balls, with three fours) was part of a superb batting effort from the New Zealand top order as they eased to victory in good time, earning them a sizeable net run rate boost that could yet prove significant.
Having been set 116 to win, New Zealand openers Suzie Bates and Georgia Plimmer making a sizeable dent in the target with an unbeaten stand through the powerplay.
Bates was the first wicket to fall, bowled by Sachini Nisansala for 17, ending a 49-run partnership.
But the arrival of Melie Kerr did little to slow New Zealand's momentum, as she went about building another sizeable partnership with Plimmer.
Plimmer's hard-run half-century featured just four boundaries, and her impressive effort eventually came to an end when she was dismissed by Athapaththu for 53 from just 44 balls, with the winning post in sight.
Kerr finished unbeaten on 34* from 31 deliveries to complete her superb all-round game, while the game was finished in quick time by Sophie Devine, who smashed 13* off 8 balls to wrap up the win with 2.3 overs remaining.
Sri Lanka made the start they would have been hoping for having won the toss and opted to bat first in Sharjah, with captain Chamari Athapaththu making a significant contribution for the first time in the tournament.
Sri Lanka reached 34/1 by the end of the powerplay, with fellow opener Vishmi Gunaratne back in the hutch after a platform-setting 8 from 15 balls that helped blunt New Zealand's opening salvo.
And Athapaththu kicked on after the powerplay, as Sri Lanka built themselves towards a competitive first-innings score, reaching 57/1 at the midway point of the innings.
But New Zealand hit back through the middle overs, inspired by the brilliance of all-rounder Melie Kerr.
It was Kerr who got the vital breakthrough as Athapaththu played on to depart for a 41-ball 35, with five fours as she looked to up the scoring rate.
Kerr also held on to a decent catch as Leigh Kasperek drew a false shot out of the other set batter Harshitha Samarawickrama (18 from 29 balls), and then struck again with the ball to remove Kavisha Dilhari lbw for 10.
Kerr finished with superb figures of 2/13 from her four overs. Leigh Kasperek also got two wickets.
New Zealand's winning margin could yet prove significant in Group A, meaning that Pakistan will need a significant winning margin when they meet on Monday if they are to leapfrog the White Ferns in the table.
But the boost for New Zealand was not enough to move them into second in the table above India, who face group leaders Australia in a crunch game on Sunday evening.
