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SL-New Zealand WC game faces rain threat

09 Nov 2023 - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}      

The M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru   

By Champika Fernando in Bengaluru

Bad weather threatens to spoil Sri Lanka’s last Cricket World Cup group game against New Zealand here at Bengaluru, India, today.
The two teams will meet 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 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.
“There's lots of things that we can't control and the weather is one of those,” said Kane Williamson, the Black Caps skipper, ahead of today’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.
While New Zealand held a training session in the morning, Sri Lanka opted to train under lights.


Sri Lanka’s best chance is to beat New Zealand and then hope England and Netherland will falter in their last remaining games. A wash-out will make it tougher for them.
“It's a crucial game and the scenarios say that we need to win it. There are a few more games to be played after our one as well. We have been preparing as usual. Everyone's very positive and trying to keep our hands up and go and play the best game tomorrow,” said Naveed Nawaz, the assistant coach of the Sri Lanka team.


Against New Zealand, Sri Lanka 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 tons 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.


“We've seen about four of our batsmen have done really well,” said Nawaz. “Charith (Asalanka), Sadeera (Samarawickrema), of course, Pathum (Nissanka) and Kusal (Mendis) have done reasonably well in this tournament. But overall, in all three departments, we made mistakes in most of the games. Our fielding was not up to the mark and whenever we batted, we didn't bowl well. I think we should have done better”.


Sri Lanka probable team: Kusal Mendis (c), Kusal Perera, Pathum Nissanka, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Charith Asalanka, Angelo Mathews, Dhananjaya de Silva, Maheesh Theekshana, Kasun Rajitha/Chamika Karunaratne, Dilshan Madushanka, Dushmantha Chameera,


New Zealand squad: Kane Williamson (c), 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, Will Young