Bengaluru: New Zealand will face injury-hit Sri Lanka in the 41st match of ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2023 at M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Thursday.
With Pakistan and Afghanistan are breathing down their necks, only an emphatic victory against Sri Lanka in Bengaluru can give some relief to Kane Williamson-led New Zealand side. While a loss wouldn’t rule them out yet, the Kiwis would then leave their fate solely to other results going their way. Blackcaps' campaign has hit a disheartening flatline after their early domination and Kane Williamson and Co. will have to get back to the winning ways.
Sri Lanka, on the other side, would look to win their last fixture and qualify for the Champions Trophy 2025 to be held in Pakistan. Kusal Mendis and Co. slipped down to 9th place after defending champions England knocked out the Netherlands with a huge margin and moved to 7th place in the points table.
Here are the live updates from the game:
- 7.47 pm
Glenn Phillips finishes the game with a boundary by hitting a pull to a short delivery and New Zealand win the game by five wickets. - 7.40 pm
Daryl Mitchell tries to play an inside out but the chip didn't reach the boundary line and the senior batter in the side walks back to the dugout before finishing the game. - 7.30 pm
New Zealand are on their way to chase an easy target but they are losing wickets in the process. Mark Chapman sacrifices his wicket as there was a mix-up between him and Daryl Mitchell. - 7.22 pm
Mark Chapman played a delivery from Madushanka towards deep extra cover and the delivery races towards boundary line. - 7.17 pm
Kane Williamson has played on a delivery onto his stumps against a short delivery to stumps to the batter back of the length delivery from Angelo Matthews - 7.10 pm
Daryl Mitchell is switching gears now as he smashed a boundary with a reverse sweep takes the ball towards the boundary rope at backward point. - 7.00 pm
Daryl Mitchell whacks a six against a full delivery outside off with sublime timing and so the New Zealand batters continue to race towards the target in a quick time. - 6.52 pm
Rachin Ravindra is the next batter to be dismissed as he plays a slog sweep to Mahesh Theekshana but the lack of elevation helps Dhananjaya de Silva fetch the ball. - 6.45 pm
Conway walked down the track to play with an aggressive intent but his mistimed stroke lands straight into the hands of Dhananjaya de Silva and the New Zealand opener walks back to the hut as a result. - 6.35 pm
Conway is now heading towards his half-century and the Kiwi openers are heading towards a 100-run opening stand. - 6.25 pm
Conway and Ravindra stitch fifty partnership inside 10 overs as New Zealand eyes an early finish to boost their semi-final chances. - 6.00 pm
New Zealand openers Rachin Ravindra and Devon Conway are in the middle. Left-arm pacer Dilshan Madhushanka has the new ball in hand and will open the attack for Sri Lanka. - 5.20 pm
It's the end of the Sri Lankan innings as they finally break the last wicket partnership. The left-arm spinner Rachin Ravindra picked his second wicket of the match as he removed Dilshan Madhushanka on 19 off 48 balls with two fours. Maheesh Theekshana stayed not out with 38 off 91 balls including three fours. - 5.00 pm
Ferguson ended his spell with two wickets for 35 runs with two wickets. He will have to wait for the next match to achieve the 100 ODI wickets milestone. Meanwhile, Theekshana and Madhushanka have stitched the 30+ runs partnership as the Kiwis couldn't find a wicket in the last 10 overs here. - 4.45 pm
Lockie Ferguson is in search of a wicket to complete 100 wickets in ODI cricket for New Zealand. But it doesn't seem to be that easy as Theekshana and Madhushanka are not only playing the overs here but also stealing singles here and there. 150-up for Sri Lanka. - 4.26 pm
Dushmantha Chameera is the ninth wicket to fall as he mistimes a shot and edges it on the off-side. Boult takes a simple catch to send the batter back to the hut. - 4.20 pm
Trent Boult bowls a full delivery angling into Theekshana and it hit the batters' pads. The umpire adjudged it to be not out but New Zealand challenged the umpires' decision with a review. However, the DRS shows the ball missing the stumps. - 4.10 pm
The Lankan tail is scoring some valuable runs here. Maheesh Theekshana would want to play as many overs as he can to bring some semblance of a chase in this otherwise lop-sided game so far. - 4.00 pm
New Zealand eyeing to clean up Sri Lanka quickly and chase the target as early as possible because of the high possibility of rain. The Lankans have scored a mere three and lost five overs. - 3.52 pm
Sri Lanka have lost their eighth wicket here! Ferguson had pushed Karunaratne back with some short deliveries and then pitched one up after switching back to over the wicket. This was full and just outside off, Karunaratne pushed at it with no footwork at all expecting another bouncer and the ball took a healthy edge as Latham dived forward and grabbed it. - 3.44 pm
Maheesh Theekshana and Chamira Karunaratne are just playing the overs here. Only eight runs have come from the last five overs with a loss of one wicket. The Kiwis' skipper Kane Williamson is attacking with a short leg, 2 slips, and a gully. - 3.30 pm
Flighted one, outside off, Dhananjaya pressed the front foot forward and pushed it with hard hands to edge it in the slip. Santner bowled a slightly slower ball and turned enough to take the edge. Dhananjaya made 19 off 24 balls with two fours and a six. - 3.15 pm
Sri Lanka are six wickets down now. Santner gets rid of Angelo Mathews. Mathews went for a front-foot defense but the slower ball turned and bounced more than his expectations and he couldn't manage to hold on to it as the ball took the edge of the bat. Easy take for Mitchell at slip. Mathews made 16 off 27 balls with two fours. - 2.50 pm
Fuller length delivery, wide outside off, Kusal Perera went for a big shot but the ball hit the toe end of the bat and the ball went straight into the air and Santner made no mistake. Ferguson gets his first wicket of the match. - 2.40 pm
The centurion of the last match, Charith Asalanka departs on 8 runs. A length delivery, into the stumps, Asalanka missed the line of the delivery and trapped in front of the wickets. Sri Lanka are in trouble as they lose their fourth wicket. They have been scoring quickly but losing wickets as well. - 2.35 pm
Sri Lankan opener Kusal Perera smashed a blistering fifty. He completed his half-century in just 23 balls. With this half-century, he became the player to score third fastest fifty for Sri Lanka in the World Cups. - 2.25 pm
Another wicket goes down, Sadira Samarwickrama goes forward against the full and just outside off delivery but edged it and the ball went straight into the hands of Mitchell, who was in the perfect position at wide slip to accept this catch Boult has two in the powerplay and New Zealand will be pleased. - 2.20 pm
Sri Lanka are two down now. The skipper Kusal Mendis goes cheaply! Full and shaping into the pads, Kusal Mendis went for a pick-up shot over the backward square leg but closed the face of the bat too early and Ravindra took the good running catch. Another failure for Kusal Mendis too. - 2.10 pm
Two edges in two balls, but this time Tom Latham made no mistake. Full and just outside off delivery from Southee, just a hint of outswing again, Nissanka came forward and pushed at this but it took the edge of the bat. Another low score for Nissanka, he'd been good for Sri Lanka but his tournament ended with a single-digit score.
Follow live updates from here:
- 1.38 pm
Playing XI
New Zealand: Devon Conway, Rachin Ravindra, Kane Williamson(c), Daryl Mitchell, Mark Chapman, Glenn Phillips, Mitchell Santner, Tom Latham(w), Tim Southee, Trent Boult, Lockie Ferguson
Sri Lanka: Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Perera, Kusal Mendis(w/c), Sadeera Samarawickrama, Charith Asalanka, Angelo Mathews, Dhananjaya de Silva, Chamika Karunaratne, Maheesh Theekshana, Dushmantha Chameera, Dilshan Madushanka - 1.33 pm
New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson won the toss and elected to field first.
Squads
New Zealand squad: Kane Williamson (Captain), Trent Boult, Mark Chapman, Devon Conway, Lockie Ferguson, Kyle Jamieson, Tom Latham (Wicketkeeper), Daryl Mitchell, Jimmy Neesham, Glenn Phillips, Rachin Ravindra, Mitch Santner, Ish Sodhi, Tim Southee, Will Young.
Sri Lanka Squad: Kusal Mendis (Captain/Wicketkeeper), Kusal Perera, Pathum Nissanka, Dushmantha Chameera, Dimuth Karunaratne, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Charith Asalanka, Dhananjaya de Silva, Maheesh Theekshana, Dunith Wellalage, Kasun Rajitha, Angelo Mathews, Dilshan Madushanka, Dushan Hemantha, Chamika Karunaratne.
