Bates and Jensen do the damage for White Ferns

New Zealand’s White Ferns have comfortably beaten Sri Lanka by 45 runs in their Commonwealth Games group stage T20 match to put themselves into the medal mix.

The White Ferns won the toss at Edgbaston and batted first, posting 147-7 with openers skipper Sophie Devine and Suzie Bates giving them an excellent platform with a partnership of 51.

Both batters scored at better than a run a ball, with Devine dismissed for 24, which included three fours and a six, and Bates for 34 off 32 balls.

Brooke Halliday was their next best scorer with 22, with Lea Tahuhu blasting an unbeaten 20 off eight balls to finish.

In reply, Sri Lanka scored 102-8, with Nilakshi de Silva easily their biggest contributor with 36 off 35 deliveries.

New Zealand’s Hayley Jensen did most of the damage with career-best figures of three wickets for only five runs. Her scalps included that of Sri Lankan captain Chamari Athapaththu.

The White Ferns still have a pool match against England, who beat South Africa earlier on Wednesday, on Friday. New Zealand are second in their group behind England.