First, the permutations. A five-wicket win over Sri Lanka with 160 balls to spare means New Zealand now have 10 factors and a internet run fee of 0.743. They are fourth within the factors desk with a semi-final berth all however sealed. It seems virtually unimaginable for his or her closest rivals to leapfrog them. Pakistan must beat England by 287 runs or chase 150 in 3.4 overs on Saturday. Afghanistan now want an much more unimaginable 438-run win towards South Africa.
Chamika Karunaratne (R) greets New Zealand’s Tom Latham after their win on the finish of the 2023 ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup one-day worldwide (ODI) match (AFP)
New Zealand assembly India within the semi-finals in a repeat of 2019, thus, appears a possible and fairly deserved match-up from hereon. “Really good performance,” New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson summed up their efficiency on the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Thursday. “The early wickets and spin was a challenge through those middle overs. The pitch really slowed down later. The guys showed some good intent later with the chase, so great performance overall. We thought there was going to be some weather later but there wasn’t any. Hard to read such things.”
Finally at full energy, New Zealand reviving their marketing campaign was on the playing cards regardless that the win ought to have ideally come earlier. A ninth place end — for now — appears dangerous sufficient however there are graver implications for Sri Lanka after signing off with their seventh defeat within the World Cup. Qualification for the 2025 Champions Trophy is at stake and for that they want both England or Bangladesh to lose closely together with Netherlands for a beneficial internet run fee. This, coming from a aspect that had reached the ultimate the final time the World Cup was held in India.
When requested what ails Sri Lanka, coach Chris Silverwood — his job is on the road — identified their inconsistency. “I think it would be fair to use that word,” he stated on the post-match press convention. “We’ve played some good cricket along the way and I think we’ll look back on certain games and rue missed opportunities, to be honest. There have been certain games during this campaign that if we’d have taken the opportunities that were put our way, this could have looked a lot different. But the fact is that we have been inconsistent and it’s something that we’ve been working on for a long time and something we need to continue working on. So, yeah, I think inconsistent is a word we can use.”
On probably the greatest pitches to bat on on this event, Sri Lanka approached the match in search of solely to chase. So, when put in to bat they simply couldn’t activate their aggregator mode. Opener Pathum Nissanka edged a drive within the second over, Kusal Mendis flayed at a leaving supply however not onerous sufficient to clear third man, Sadeera Samarawickrama edged to first slip, Charith Asalanka was trapped leg earlier than and Kusal Perera speared a very good size ball — all throughout the first 10 overs. Maheesh Theekshana performed out 91 deliveries to delay the inevitable and had firm from final man Dilshan Madushanka, who stood guard for 48 deliveries. But from 70/5 to 171 all out, Sri Lanka’s batting bore a resistance that got here too little, too late.
New Zealand too should have performed a greater job of wrapping up the win after openers Devon Conway and Rachin Ravindra had set them up with an 86-run stand. But one wicket led to 2, after which the run out of Mark Chapman after a mix-up with Daryl Mitchell made Sri Lanka look pleased, to at the very least make New Zealand sweat for full factors. The successful runs lastly got here off the bat of Glenn Phillips, who hit two consecutive boundaries to stay 17*, New Zealand romping dwelling earlier than Bengaluru’s unpredictable rain might have threatened to play spoilsport.
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Source: www.hindustantimes.com
