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Kane Williamson-led New Zealand have almost secured their place in ICC Men’s ODI World Cup 2023 semi-final with a comprehensive five-wicket win over Sri Lanka at M.Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru. New Zealand have made it near-impossible for Pakistan to reach the semifinals even if they beat defending champions England. On the other hand, the big defeat hurt Sri Lanka as they will not feature in the Champions Trophy 2025 in Pakistan.
Williamson won the toss and opted to field first. Tim Southee struck in his first over with the wicket of Pathum Nissanka. Kusal Perera went on a rampage and made use of fielding restrictions. Meanwhile, Trent Boult struck twice in the fifth over to dismiss skipper Kusal Mendis and Sadeera Samarawickrama. But Perera looked unaffected by the fall of wickets. He hit Southee for three fours and a six. In the eighth over, he reached his half-century from just 22 balls. Boult struck again with the new ball to end Perera's knock. His 28-ball 51 featured nine fours and a couple of sixes. They lost half their side for 70 in the 10th over.
The experienced Angelo Mathews could not rescue his side and became Mitchell Santner's victim for a 27-ball 16. In his next over, he dismissed Dhananjaya de Silva who scored 19 runs from 24 balls. Maheesh Theekshana held on to one end whereas Chamika Karunaratne and Dushmantha Chameera could not last long at the crease in the middle overs. Theekshana and Dilshan Madushanka frustrated Kiwi bowlers. They shared the highest 10th-wicket partnership for Sri Lanka in World Cups. Madushanka was the last to fall after scoring 19 runs from 48 balls. Theekshana's unbeaten 91-ball 38 helped Sri Lanka post 171 from 46.4 overs.
New Zealand openers Rachin Ravindra and Devon Conway were cautious against the new ball. In the fifth over, Conway hit Madushanka for three fours. Ravindra hit the first six of the innings as Silva was introduced into the attack. After 10 overs, New Zealand had 73 runs on the board. Chameera broke the partnership in the 13th over as Conway missed his half-century. Conway scored 45 runs from 42 balls including nine fours. In the next over, Ravindra went for a slog sweep but got caught at mid-on. He scored 42 runs from 34 balls including three fours and as many sixes. The knock helped him become the leading run-scorer in the ongoing tournament.
Daryl Mitchell made his intentions clear straightaway with a four off the first ball he faced. He continued to find boundaries. Williamson looked to attack as well. Against Mathews, he dragged the ball back on the stumps. He scored 14 runs from 15 balls. Mark Chapman joined him in the middle but departed early after a terrible mix-up. Mitchell also missed out on a half-century. Mathews dismissed him in the 23rd over. He scored 43 runs from 31 balls including five fours and two sixes. Glenn Phillips ensured there was no anti-climax and finished the match with two consecutive boundaries in the 24th over with five wickets in hand.
After the loss, Sri Lanka slipped to the ninth place where New Zealand retained their fourth place on the points table.
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