New Zealand's crushing five-wicket win gives them a healthy net run rate boost that makes it all-but impossible for rivals Pakistan or Afghanistan to leapfrog them into the semi-finals
Match Report:
ScorecardNZ crush Sri Lanka to put one foot in World Cup semis
New Zealand have returned to winning ways at the ODI World Cup following a four-match slump as they defeated Sri Lanka by five wickets at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru to give them a strong chance of securing a place in the semi-finals.
Opening batsmen Devon Conway (45) and Rachin Ravindra (42) got fourth-placed New Zealand's chase of 172 off to a fast start on Thursday and Daryl Mitchell (43) took them close before they crossed the finish line in 23.2 overs.
Victory left New Zealand on 10 points – in pole position to claim the last semi-final spot, which would mean a semi-final against host nation India in Mumbai next Wednesday, with South Africa and Australia to play at Kolkata on Thursday.
New Zealand's big net run rate boost – they finish the group stage with 0.743 – means while Pakistan can mathematically still book a promoters' dream semi-final against India, they will need to beat England by an almost impossible margin to leapfrog the Black Caps.
Pakistan enter their final match with a net run rate of 0.036. Afghanistan, who also had slim hopes of qualifying for the knockouts, find themselves in an even worse position as their Asian neighbours before their clash with South Africa, which they enter with a net run rate of -0.338.
To leapfrog the Kiwis on net run rate, Pakistan would need to beat England by at least 287 runs. That means, for example, batting first and scoring 400 - at a venue where the average first-innings ODI score this year is 243 - and then bowl England out for 112.
If England win the toss and bat first, it will effectively eliminate Pakistan, who would need something in the realms of keeping England to 100 runs in their 50 overs (bowling them out early and reducing the overs faced would actually hurt their net run rate) and then chase it down with 17 consecutive sixes.
"Really good performance," said New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson. "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."
Earlier, seamer Trent Boult and offspinner Mitchell Santner landed timely blows as Sri Lanka limped to 171 all out after an early blitz by Kusal Perera (51) and a defiant late effort by Maheesh Theekshana (38 not out).
"Nice to get a bit of success at the top. A must-win game, the pleasure is about getting the result," said player-of-the-match Boult, who went past 600 international wickets.
Barring an unlikely miracle in Pakistan's last game, New Zealand will meet hosts India in a rematch of the 2019 World Cup semi-finals, which the Black Caps won.
"Everyone wants a piece of the strong home nation," Boult said. "We're looking forward to it. It'll be exciting to face India in the semi-finals. They're playing phenomenal cricket."
Williamson's decision to bowl after winning the toss paid off early, as Boult (3-37) and Tim Southee (1-52) tore through the Sri Lanka top order to leave them in some trouble at 32-3 inside five overs.
Perera, who was dropped on zero by Tom Latham in the second over, punished New Zealand with a 22-ball fifty but lost another partner when Boult trapped Charith Asalanka lbw to turn up the heat on the 1996 champions.
A fit-again Lockie Ferguson (2-35) struck in his second over to dismiss the aggressive Perera as Sri Lanka collapsed to 5-70 and eventually folded in the 47th over for a modest total after Santner (2-22) and Ravindra (2-21) joined the party.
Santner curtailed Sri Lanka during a crucial phase of the innings and removed Angelo Mathews (16) and Dhananjaya de Silva (19) before Theekshana and Dilshan Madushanka (19) frustrated New Zealand with a 10th-wicket stand of 43.
"In the first 10 overs, we lost three-four wickets and struggled with the bat," said Sri Lanka captain Kusal Mendis, after his side dropped to ninth.
"If we had a good partnership in the middle overs, we could have had 300-plus on this wicket."
2023 men's ODI World Cup standings
| Team | M | W | L | T | N/R | NRR | Ded. | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1
IND
|
9 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2.57 | 0 | 18 |
|
2
SA
|
9 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1.261 | 0 | 14 |
|
3
AUS
|
9 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0.841 | 0 | 14 |
|
4
NZ
|
9 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0.743 | 0 | 10 |
|
5
PAK
|
9 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 0 | -0.199 | 0 | 8 |
|
6
AFG
|
9 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 0 | -0.336 | 0 | 8 |
|
7
ENG
|
9 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 0 | -0.572 | 0 | 6 |
|
8
BAN
|
9 | 2 | 7 | 0 | 0 | -1.087 | 0 | 4 |
|
9
SL
|
9 | 2 | 7 | 0 | 0 | -1.419 | 0 | 4 |
|
10
NED
|
9 | 2 | 7 | 0 | 0 | -1.825 | 0 | 4 |
M: Matches played
W: Wins
L: Losses
T: Ties
N/R: No results
NRR: Net Run Rate
Ded.: Deductions
PTS: Total points