Kim Cotton from New Zealand made history when she became the first woman to be an on-field umpire for a men’s T20I between two full-time Test-playing nations. After officiating the 2nd T20I between New Zealand and Sri Lanka on April 5 at Dunedin’s University Oval, she reached this goal.
She and fellow countryman Wayne Knights were both umpires for the second T20I.
But this isn’t Kim Cotton first time officiating a men’s game.
She had worn the third umpire’s hat before, in 2020, when India and New Zealand played in Hamilton and the score was tied.
Kim Cotton was also the first woman to ever referee a World Cup final when she went out on the field for the 2020 ICC World T20 Final between Australia and India at the famous Melbourne Cricket Ground.
She has also been a part of three women’s T20 World Cups and one women’s ODI World Cup. In 2020, 2022, and the Women’s T20 World Cup that just ended in 2023, she was a referee for all three World Cup finals.
Since 2018, Cotton has played 54 T20Is and 24 ODIs for women’s cricket.
Claire Polosak of Australia was named the fourth umpire for the Sydney Test of the 2021-22 Border-Gavaskar Trophy. This made her the first woman ever to be on the team of match officials for a men’s game.
By beating Sri Lanka in the second T20I, New Zealand tied the series.
After losing the first game of the series, New Zealand gave it right back to Sri Lanka by beating them easily in the second T20I by 9 wickets. When New Zealand won the toss, they put Sri Lanka in to bat first, which turned out to be a good choice.
In spite of what everyone thought, Sri Lanka didn’t make a big score in the first inning. Only Kushal Perera, Dhanajaya de Silva, and Charith Asalanka were able to step up. De Silva scored the most runs with 37, while Perera and Asalanka each scored 35 and Sri Lanka was put out for 141. Adam Milne, a fast bowler for New Zealand, did a great job with the ball. He got five wickets and gave up only 26 runs in his four overs.
Chad Bowes hit seven fours off 15 Lankan deliveries on his way to a quick 31 runs as New Zealand tried to catch up to 142. He was out by Kasun Rajitha, who had caught him. Tim Seifert and Tom Latham then put up a 106-run partnership that couldn’t be broken. Seifert did most of the damage during this time. Seifert played 43 balls and hit three fours and six sixes to score 79 runs at a great strike rate of 183.72.
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