unbeaten

Black Caps openers Finn Allen and Tim Seifert had come out swinging after their side batted first.

Allen hit four fours and two sixes for his 17-ball 31 before Marco Jansen (4-40) crucially took three wickets in quick succession to bring South Africa back into the game.

The seamer sent back Seifert for 13 in his first over before dismissing Rachin Ravindra and Allen in the space of four balls in the final over of the powerplay.

Mark Chapman and Daryl Mitchell rebuilt the innings and New Zealand were scoring at around 10-an-over for more than half the innings.

They were 138-5 when Chapman fell to the last ball of the 14th over, having made 48 from 26 balls, with their opponents able to drag it back from there and restrict New Zealand to 175-7.

It appeared short at the halfway stage and within a few balls of the reply, that was confirmed.

Markram and De Kock got after opening bowlers Matt Henry and Lockie Ferguson from the off, then gave Jacob Duffy the same treatment when he came on.

Ferguson bowled De Kock with a slower ball but there was no slowing the Proteas as Markram continued his charge, first alongside Rickelton then Dewald Brevis, who both made 21.

Markram was able to watch from the non-striker’s end as David Miller finished the job in style – launching Ferguson into the stands for a monstrous six.

South Africa will official qualify for the Super 8s if the United Arab Emirates fail to beat Afghanistan on Monday.

Encouragingly for England on the eve of a subcontinental T20 World Cup, their spin department is holding up well.

A combined 12 overs yielded three wickets for 81 runs at an economy rate of 6.75, a return that underlined their growing control and reliability.

Rashid remains the ace in the pack, capable of stifling momentum and producing breakthroughs at key moments.

The experienced leg-spinner’s googly may have been well studied by opposition batters, but it remains a potent weapon, as Sri Lanka captain Dasun Shanaka discovered when he was trapped lbw slogging to leg.

Dawson’s left-arm spin provided much-needed control through the middle overs, slowing down his speeds to left vs right handers, while Jacks continues to mature as a bowling option, and used his angles well.

Brook has plenty of options to turn to even when the pitch does not spin big.

A slight concern for England, with just under a week to go before a major tournament, was that their seam bowling did not quite hit the mark.

That caveat comes with the acknowledgement that the surface at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium was a used one, offering little margin for error.

Nevertheless Jamie Overton struggled with his length, while Curran, fresh from an expensive hat-trick in the opening T20, surprisingly lacked conviction after conceding 14 from his first over.

Archer fared slightly better, picking up two wickets despite being targeted early on, with Nissanka launching him out of the ground in his opening over.

Archer, however, recovered well to bowl effectively at the death as Sri Lanka pushed for a total in excess of 200.

More to follow.