Bengaluru (Agencies): New Zealand all but by the most improbable of mathematical possibilities locked in their place in the World Cup semi-final with a dominant five-wicket win – with 160 balls left – against Sri Lanka in Bengaluru.
The result means they move to ten points, and a net run rate (NRR) of 0.743. That essentially means Pakistan need to beat England by 287 runs, while Afghanistan need an even more fantastical 438-run win over South Africa if they are to surpass New Zealand’s NRR.
If Pakistan happen to chase, this becomes even more unlikely a possibility, as they would need to chase a hypothetical target of 150 in 3.4 overs.
As for Sri Lanka, the margin of the defeat to New Zealand has left them languishing at ninth position on the table, thus out of the qualification spots for the 2025 Champions Trophy. They now require one of England or Bangladesh to suffer significant-enough defeats – while Netherlands would also need to lose to India – so that their respective NRRs drop below that of Sri Lanka’s.
New Zealand’s win was the product of an all-round performance with bat and ball. While the threat of rain in Bengaluru ultimately proved to be a red herring, winning the toss and putting Sri Lanka in seemed to be the most prudent way to ensure both an NRR-boosting victory as well as to serve as a hedge against any rain interruptions and DLS interventions. And so it proved.
Despite the loss of some late wickets, Sri Lanka’s total of 171 was comfortably dealt with, as Devon Conway, Rachin Ravindra and Daryl Mitchell all pitched in with a trio of forties. On a surface that proved even better to bat on under lights, Ravindra and Conway put on 86 to break open the chase, before Mitchell’s rapid 43 off just 31 balls rammed home the result. All three would fall before the finish, but the win was never in doubt.
That it was so easy in the end was down to a solid bowling effort and a haphazard outing with the bat for Sri Lanka. New Zealand spread out the wickets evenly, with Lockie Ferguson, Mitchell Santner and Ravindra picking up two apiece, though Trent Boult’s 3 for 37 was what had set his side up at the top of Sri Lanka’s innings – and earned him the Player-of-the-Match accolade.
Such was New Zealand’s dominance that they could afford three dropped catches in the field – ones which would even prove costly in terms of runs scored – but still canter to victory.
The first was of Kusal Perera without scoring, as Tom Latham uncharacteristically grassed a straightforward caught behind. Latham would get his shot at redemption just a ball later though, with Pathum Nissanka nicking through for an even more simple chance.
Kusal Mendis would fall a few overs later, splicing a leading edge down to deep third while looking to pick one up over midwicket, with Sadeera Samarawickrama following soon after edging through to Mitchell at first slip. Both those wickets were grabbed by the excellent Boult, taking him past 50 wickets in World Cups – he would end the game with that tally on 52.
But even as wickets fell at one end, Perera functioned as a one-man army, finding boundaries all around the Chinnaswamy Stadium, and punishing New Zealand for that early drop. Two picked-up sixes over long-on off Tim Southee were the highlights of some belligerent ball striking, as he brought up his 50 off just 22 deliveries – the joint second-fastest by a Sri Lankan in ODI World Cups – and the joint-fastest in ODIs by an opener while batting first.
