New Zealand registered a convincing 5-wicket win over Sri Lanka in their last league stage game of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 played at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore.
Reporting from Bangalore, India
New Zealand, having won the toss and opted to bowl, restricted Sri Lanka to 171 and then chased down the score in 23.2 overs to put one foot in the semi-finals.
With this defeat, Sri Lanka ended a horrendous World Cup campaign, succumbing to their 7th defeat in 9 games to finish in the 9th place of the Points Table. With England and Bangladesh, who are yet to play their last match of the competition ahead of Sri Lanka on the points table on Net Run Rate, it is fair to say that Sri Lanka’s chances of qualifying for the Champions Trophy 2025 are almost done.
The Kiwi openers – Devon Conway and Rachin Ravindra, got them off to a solid start to prove that the Lankan score of 171 was not enough at all. They scored 73 off the first powerplay and went on to score 86 before Conway was dismissed for 45 by Dushmantha Chameera. Soon after, the current highest run-getter of the competition, Ravindra, holed out to mid-on off Maheesh Theekshana to make it 88 for 2.
The rest of the batters who came to bat tried to finish the game in quick succession to improve their net run rate and secure their 5th consecutive semi-final in 50-over World Cups. Daryl Mitchell made a quick-fire 43 off 31 balls. Angelo Mathews got both Kane Williamson and Mitchell with his gentle right arm seam-ups.
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After being asked to bat first, Sri Lanka lost as many as five wickets in the first powerplay, which proved to be the decisive factor of the game.
Pathum Nissanka was the first to be gone when he edged behind off Tim Southee. Having dropped Kusal Perera in the previous ball, wicket-keeper Tom Latham held on to the catch of Nissanka.
Skipper Kusal Mendis tried to heave over mid-wicket but managed to top edge it to third man. A couple of balls later, Trent Boult got his second wicket in the match when he got Sadeera Samarawickrama to push at a delivery and edge to first slip as Sri Lanka were 3 down for just 32 runs.
Perera went berserk, taking on the Kiwi bowlers to all parts of the ground. He reached the fastest half-century of the tournament in just 22 balls with 9 fours and 2 sixes.
Boult’s brilliant first powerplay spell was capped with another wicket, trapping Charith Asalanka plumb in front.
Before the end of the powerplay, Perera’s blitzkrieg finished when he skied one off Lockie Ferguson as Sri Lanka were 5 down for 70 in the 10th over.
With the introduction of spin, the scoring rate came down drastically. Left-arm spinner Mitchell Santner bowled his quota of 10 overs at a stretch to ensure Sri Lanka does not recover from that dismal powerplay. He accounted for the wickets of Angelo Mathews and Dhananjaya De Silva; both were caught at slips in a short span of deliveries as Sri Lanka were 7 down for 105.
Maheesh Theekshana put a price on his wicket and made sure New Zealand had to work hard for the last few wickets. He hit an invaluable, unbeaten 38 off 91 deliveries, his highest in ODIs.
Chamika Karunaratne and Dushmantha Chameera fell cheaply, making it 128 for 9 in the 33rd over. However, Theekshana, along with Dilshan Madushanka, added 43 runs off 87 balls for the last wicket, making it Sri Lanka’s highest 10th wicket stand in World Cups. The last wicket stand was also Sri Lanka’s best partnership of the innings.
Sri Lanka – 171 all out (46.4 overs) Kusal Perera 51, Maheesh Theekshana 38*, Trent Boult 3/37, Mitchell Santner 2/22, Lockie Ferguson 2/35, Rachin Ravindra 2/21.
New Zealand – 172/5 (23.2 overs) Devon Conway 45, Rachin Ravindra 42, Daryl Mitchell 43, Angelo Mathews 2/29.
Result
| Batsmen | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pathum Nissanka | c Tom Latham b Tim Southee | 2 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 25.00 |
| Kusal Perera | c Mitchell Santner b Lockie Ferguson | 51 | 28 | 9 | 2 | 182.14 |
| Kusal Mendis | c Rachin Ravindra b Trent Boult | 6 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 85.71 |
| Sadeera Samarawickrama | c Mitchell Santner b Trent Boult | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 50.00 |
| Charith Asalanka | lbw b Trent Boult | 8 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 100.00 |
| Angelo Mathews | c Daryl Mitchell b Mitchell Santner | 16 | 27 | 2 | 0 | 59.26 |
| Dhananjaya de Silva | c Daryl Mitchell b Mitchell Santner | 19 | 24 | 2 | 1 | 79.17 |
| Chamika Karunaratne | c Tom Latham b Lockie Ferguson | 6 | 17 | 1 | 0 | 35.29 |
| Mahesh Theekshana | not out | 38 | 91 | 3 | 0 | 41.76 |
| Dushmantha Chameera | c Trent Boult b Rachin Ravindra | 1 | 20 | 0 | 0 | 5.00 |
| Dilshan Madushanka | c Tom Latham b Rachin Ravindra | 19 | 48 | 2 | 0 | 39.58 |
| Extras | 4 (b 0 , lb 1 , nb 0, w 3, pen 0) |
| Total | 171/10 (46.4 Overs, RR: 3.66) |
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Trent Boult | 10 | 1 | 37 | 3 | 3.70 | |
| Tim Southee | 8 | 0 | 52 | 1 | 6.50 | |
| Lockie Ferguson | 10 | 2 | 35 | 2 | 3.50 | |
| Mitchell Santner | 10 | 2 | 22 | 2 | 2.20 | |
| Rachin Ravindra | 7.4 | 0 | 21 | 2 | 2.84 | |
| Glenn Phillips | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3.00 | |
| Batsmen | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Devon Conway | c Dhananjaya de Silva b Dushmantha Chameera | 45 | 42 | 9 | 0 | 107.14 |
| Rachin Ravindra | c Dhananjaya de Silva b Mahesh Theekshana | 42 | 34 | 3 | 3 | 123.53 |
| Kane Williamson | b Angelo Mathews | 14 | 15 | 2 | 0 | 93.33 |
| Daryl Mitchell | c Charith Asalanka b Angelo Mathews | 43 | 31 | 5 | 2 | 138.71 |
| Mark Chapman | run out (Sadeera Samarawickrama) | 7 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 116.67 |
| Glenn Phillips | not out | 17 | 10 | 3 | 0 | 170.00 |
| Tom Latham | not out | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 100.00 |
| Extras | 2 (b 0 , lb 0 , nb 0, w 2, pen 0) |
| Total | 172/5 (23.2 Overs, RR: 7.37) |
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dilshan Madushanka | 6.2 | 0 | 58 | 0 | 9.35 | |
| Mahesh Theekshana | 7 | 0 | 43 | 1 | 6.14 | |
| Dhananjaya de Silva | 2 | 0 | 22 | 0 | 11.00 | |
| Dushmantha Chameera | 4 | 1 | 20 | 1 | 5.00 | |
| Angelo Mathews | 4 | 0 | 29 | 2 | 7.25 | |
