BENGALURU: New Zealand survived a minor scare before surging to a five-wicket victory over Sri Lanka with 160 balls to spare, all but grabbing the fourth and last place in the semifinals of the ICC Men's ODI World Cup 2023 at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Thursday.
New Zealand, who needed to win their last league match by a big margin to further improve their Net Run Rate, bundled out Sri Lanka for 171 and were cruising towards victory at 86 for no loss in 12 overs as Devon Conway (45) and Rachin Ravindra (42) came out firing on all cylinders.
Both the openers were out in quick succession and skipper Kane Williamson departed for 14 before Daryl Mitchell blasted a 31-ball 43 to put them back on track for a five-wicket victory.
It was an incredible bowling performance followed by an 86-run opening stand that built the base for New Zealand's important victory over Sri Lanka at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.
The victory has left Pakistan and Afghanistan, both of whom are on eight points, needing virtually impossible targets to achieve in their respective last-league matches to overcome New Zealand's superior NRR.
To deny them and reach the semis, Pakistan need to beat England either by 287 runs while batting first or with about 284 balls to spare while chasing.
It is even more improbable for Afghanistan as they need to beat the second-placed South Africa, already in the semis, by 438 to surpass New Zealand's NRR.
It was the New Zealand quicks who made things possible for the Black Caps as they ran amok in Bengaluru.
Kusal Perera stood out as the lone warrior in the Powerplay for Sri Lanka even as four of his mates perished in quick succession to some quality bowling from the Kiwis' new-ball bowlers.
Sri Lanka's hopes of Perera salvaging them from the ruckus fell in the Powerplay itself when Lockie Ferguson snared him with the left-hander attempting a big hit over the off-side.
Reduced to 70/5, Sri Lanka needed the experience of Angelo Mathews and Dhananjaya de Silva to save them, but Mitchell Santner stepped in, sending back the duo in successive overs to put the Black Caps well and truly on top. They eventually ambled along to 171, but New Zealand's rousing start with the bat all but sealed the contest.
Brief scores: Sri Lanka 171 all out in 46.4 overs (Kusal Perera 51, Maheesh Theekshana 38 not out; Trent Boult 3-37, Lokie Ferguson 2-35, Mitchell Santner 2-22, Rachin Ravindra 2-21) lost to New Zealand 172/5 in 23.2 overs (Devon Conway 45, Rachin Ravindra 42, Daryl Mitchell 43; Angelo Mathews 2-29) by five wickets. IANS
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