New Zealand defeated Sri Lanka by 102 runs to keep their hopes of reaching the Women’s T20 World Cup semi-finals alive.
Amelia Kerr hit 66 off 48 balls and Suzie Bates added 56 off 49 as New Zealand defeated Australia 162-3 in Paarl.
In response, Sri Lanka collapsed to 60 all out, effectively ending their own last-four hopes.
New Zealand moves up to second place in Group 1, but South Africa will replace them and secure a semi-final spot if they beat Bangladesh on Tuesday.
New Zealand began aggressively, knowing they needed a big win, with opener Bernadine Bezuidenhout smashing 32 off 20 balls to help the White Ferns reach 47-1 after the powerplay, their best of the tournament so far.
After Bezuidenhout was dismissed, Kerr came to the crease to join Bates, and they put on 110 for the second wicket, timing their acceleration perfectly to average nearly 10 an over in the final five overs of the innings and lift New Zealand to a commanding total.
Sri Lanka needed to start aggressively as well in order to keep up with the run-rate, but that expansive approach resulted in some risky strokeplay and a flurry of early wickets that they could not recover from.
Opener Chamari Athapaththu appeared to be the only player capable of producing a match-winning innings, but when she was dismissed for 19 from 21 balls, Sri Lanka trailed by 33 runs.
Achini Kulasuriya was unable to bat due to a shoulder injury sustained while bowling, so New Zealand only needed nine wickets, with Kerr capping a fine all-round performance by bowling Malsha Shehani for ten to seal the win and finish with figures of 2-7.