SL-New Zealand WC game faces rain threat

By Champika Fernando

BENGALURU (Daily Mirror) - Bad weather threatens to spoil Sri Lanka’s last group game of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup match against New Zealand at Bengaluru in India tomorrow.

The two teams will meet up for their last group game in the ICC Men’s World Cup at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium — but with scattered thunderstorms forecasted, the match could be rained off.

The city has experienced wet conditions during the last few days and AccuWeather predicts some showers and a thunderstorm later in the day.

It’s a crucial fixture for both teams. After their previous game against Pakistan was impacted by the inclement weather, the Black Caps' semi-final hopes are hanging by a thread. With only eight points and locked with Pakistan and Afghanistan, the Kiwis must beat Sri Lanka to occupy the last remaining spot in the semis.

India, South Africa and Australia have entered the semi-finals. Pakistan cruised to a 21-run win on the DLS method over New Zealand, chasing a mammoth 402 to win. Pakistan had reached 200 for one wicket after 25.3 overs when rain arrived — a defeat that hurt the Black Caps' chances.

New Zealand, however, has a better run-rate than Pakistan and Afghanistan but anything less than a win puts them in a spot of bother.

They can still reach the semis based on net run-rate only if Pakistan and Afghanistan who also have eight points, lose against England and South Africa. But if Pakistan defeats England and even if Afghanistan beats South Africa and the Kiwis lose to Sri Lanka, Pakistan will secure the last remaining semi-final spot.

If the match gets washed out, the Kiwis will be in deep trouble as the points would be divided between the teams, taking theirs to nine. And if Pakistan wins against England, they will be in the semi-final with 10 points. If Pakistan lose and rain washes out the game between Sri Lanka and New Zealand, the Kiwis can still hope for a semi-final berth provided Afghanistan lose their last group game against South Africa on Friday.

“There's a lot of things that we can't control and the weather is one of those,” said Kane Williamson, the Black Caps Skipper, ahead of tomorrow’s fixture. “You mentioned that there might be some of it, there may be a thought in the back of your mind. But at the end of the day, our focus will be on the cricket that we want to play and trying to put all our focus and energy into that. That gives us the best chance of putting out a good performance. And so that'll be what we try to do”.

For Sri Lanka, their World Cup campaign is over, after six defeats so far in eight games. There had been some chance until Monday but a three-wicket defeat at the hands of Bangladesh under the most controversial circumstance where Angelo Mathews became the first international cricketer ever to be timed out - put them out of contention for a semi-final spot. They will look to finish the tournament on a high and at least qualify for the 2025 Champions Trophy. Only the first eight teams along with hosts Pakistan will enter.

Sri Lanka’s best chance is to beat New Zealand and then hope England and Netherlands will falter in their last remaining games. A wash-out will make it tougher for them.

Against New Zealand, Sri Lanka are likely to make at least one change with bowling all-rounder Chamika Karunaratne expected to replace Kasun Rajitha. Both teams have squared off 101 times in ODIs with the Black Caps winning 51 matches while Sri Lanka have won 41. Eight encounters have concluded with no result while one match ended in a tie.

New Zealand have done extremely well in the tournament, even though some results did not go their way. Rachin Ravindra playing his debut World Cup has been exceptional with the bat and has amassed 523 runs at an average of 74.71 in eight matches, including three centuries and two half centuries.

For Sri Lanka, the left-arm seamer Dilshan Madushanka has been in terrific form and currently leads the bowling chart with 21 wickets in eight matches. Sadeera Samarawickrema and Pathum Nissanka have also shown some consistency but weren’t able to change Sri Lanka’s fortunes.

• New Zealand Squad: Kane Williamson (Captain), Trent Boult, Mark Chapman, Devon Conway, Lockie Ferguson, Kyle Jamieson, Tom Latham, Daryl Mitchell, Jimmy Neesham, Glenn Phillips, Rachin Ravindra, Mitch Santner, Ish Sodhi, Tim Southee and Will Young.
• Sri Lanka Squad: Kusal Mendis (Captain), Kusal Perera, Pathum Nissanka, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Charith Asalanka, Angelo Mathews, Dhananjaya de Silva, Maheesh Theekshana, Kasun Rajitha/Chamika Karunaratne, Dilshan Madushanka and Dushmantha Chameera.