Theekshana dismissed Mitchell Santner and Nathan Smith with the last two balls of the 35th over. He then completed his hat-trick by clean bowling Matt Henry with the first ball of the 37th over. He is only the seventh Sri Lankan cricketer to achieve this milestone, following in the footsteps of Chaminda Vaas, Lasith Malinga, Dilhara Lokuhettige, Thisara Perera, Farveez Maharoof, and Wanindu Hasaranga. Notably, Theekshana is the first Sri Lankan bowler to take a hat-trick on New Zealand soil. In a stellar performance, he claimed 4 wickets for 44 runs in 8 overs.
Sri Lanka won the toss and opted to bowl first. New Zealand, batting first, made a decent start, scoring 255 runs for 9 wickets in their allotted 37 overs. Chasing the target, Sri Lanka were bowled out for 142 runs. New Zealand won the second ODI by 113 runs.
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