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Kim Cotton, who was born in Auckland, is the first woman to ever officiate a men’s international game between two ICC full members. Cotton officiates New Zealand’s nine-wicket victory over Sri Lanka in the second T20I of their three-match series.
Kim Cotton has become the first female umpire to stand in a men’s international match between two ICC full-member countries.
Kim Cotton, who was born in Auckland, officiated New Zealand’s nine-wicket victory over Sri Lanka in the second T20I of the three-match series in Dunedin.
The 45-year-old has previously officiated in 16 women’s one-day internationals and 44 women’s Twenty20 Internationals. In February, she served as an on-field umpire for both the 2022 Women’s World Cup (50-over) and the 2023 Women’s T20 World Cup finals.
When Claire Polosak officiated a one-day match between associate nations Oman and Namibia in 2019, she made history as the first female umpire in a men’s international.
When Polosak served as the fourth umpire during a Test match between Australia and India in Sydney in 2022, she also made history as the first female match official in a men’s Test match.
Kim Cotton created history during New Zealand vs Sri Lanka 2nd T20I
Tuesday’s T20I match between New Zealand and Sri Lanka saw Tim Seifert hit an unbeaten 79 as the Black Caps easily won to tie the series at 1-1. Adam Milne also recorded T20I career-best figures of 5-26.
New Zealand easily reached their 142-run target with 32 balls remaining thanks to Seifert, who blasted six sixes in his 43-ball blitz. Poor catching by Sri Lanka, who dropped both Seifert and captain Tom Latham, did not help their cause.
Sri Lanka had earlier been dismissed for 141 runs in 19 overs. Before Milne blasted out the tail, Dhananjaya de Silva led the way with 37 points, followed by Kusal Perera’s 35 points, Charith Asalanka’s 24, and Milne’s 24.
After winning the first game on Sunday in an exciting Super Over finish, Sri Lanka lost their final eight wickets for 50 runs, with Milne taking three in the last over.
