NZ vs SL / New Zealand defeated Sri Lanka by 5 wickets, place in semi-finals almost certain

NZ vs SL: New Zealand has almost confirmed its place in the semi-finals of the World Cup 2023. The team defeated Sri Lanka by 5 wickets in its last league match on Thursday. With this win, New Zealand has 10 points in the points table after all the league matches. Whereas Sri Lanka is out of the tournament with 4 points after losing the last league match. At the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru, the Kiwi team achieved the target of 172 runs for 5 wickets in 23.2 overs. Opener Devon Conway played brilliant innings of 45 runs, Rachin Ravindra scored 42 runs and Daryl Mitchell played brilliant innings of 43 runs.

In the match, New Zealand won the toss and chose to bowl and bowled out Sri Lanka for 171 runs in 46.4 overs. Opener Kusal Perera played an inning of 51 runs on 28 balls. He made the fastest fifty of this World Cup in 22 balls. Trent Boult got 3 wickets.

Rachin Ravindra is the top scorer of this World Cup

Rachin (565 runs) has become the batsman who scored the most runs in the debut World Cup. Ravindra has scored 565 runs in the current season of the World Cup. He has become the top scorer of this tournament. He left South Africa's Quinton de Kock (550 runs) behind.

Not only this, Ravindra became the batsman who scored the most runs in the debut World Cup. He left behind the record of England's Jonny Bairstow (532 runs). Bairstow scored runs in his debut World Cup in 2019.

Conway-Ravindra gave a strong start to New Zealand

Conway-Ravindra gave a strong start to New Zealand while chasing the target of 172 runs. Both scored quickly in the powerplay. After 10 overs of powerplay, the team's score was 73/0. There was also a fifty partnership between the two Kiwi openers.

Sri Lanka gave a target of 171 runs to New Zealand, Perera's fastest fifty in this World Cup

The Kiwi team won the toss and chose bowling at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. Sri Lankan opener Kusal Perera scored the highest score of 51 runs. He scored the fastest half-century of this World Cup. Perera completed his fifty on 22 balls. The remaining batsmen could not perform well. In the end, Mahish Teekshana made a partnership of 43 runs with Dilshan Madushanka for the 10th wicket.

Trent Boult took 3 wickets for the Kiwi team. Lockie Ferguson, Mitchell Santner and Rachin Ravindra got 2 wickets each.

Teekshana-Madushanka took the score to 171 in the death overs.

After losing the 9th wicket for 128 runs, Mahish Teekshana along with Dilshan Madushanka took the team's score to 171 runs. Both of them made a partnership of 43 runs on 87 balls for the last wicket. This is the biggest partnership of the current season of the World Cup in terms of runs. In the 47th over, Ravindra dismissed Madushanka and gave the team all out. Mahish Tikshana scored 38 not out.

Sri Lanka in the middle overs, lost 4 wickets in scoring 81 runs.

The middle overs game was mixed for Sri Lanka. The team lost 4 wickets in scoring 81 runs from 11th to 40th over, however Mahish Teekshana along with Dushmantha Chameera prevented the fall of wickets. Both faced 52 balls to score 15 runs for the 9th wicket. This partnership was broken by Rachin Ravindra by dismissing Chameera in the 33rd over.

Earlier, Sri Lanka's middle order batting could not make much contribution. Angelo Mathews, who was timed out in the last match, was out after scoring 16 runs, Dhananjay de Silva after scoring 19 runs and Chamika Karunaratne after scoring 6 runs. After 40 overs, Sri Lanka's score was 155/9.

Powerplay: Sri Lanka lost 5 wickets, Perera has the fastest fifty of this World Cup

Half of the Sri Lankan team returned to the pavilion in the powerplay. After 10 overs the team's score was 74/5. In the second over of the match, Tom Latham took the catch of Kusal Perera on the ball of Tim Southee. After getting the lease of life, Kusal Perera batted brilliantly. He hit 2 fours and a six in the second over of Tim Southee.

In the 5th over, Trent Boult dismissed Kusal Mendis and Sadira Samarawickrama, but Perera continued to bat in rhythm. He hit a six and 3 fours in Tim Southee's over. Perera completed his fifty in 22 balls, which is also the fastest fifty of this World Cup. Boult showed Charith Asalanka and Ferguson showed the way to the pavilion to Perera.

Playing-11 of both the teams

New Zealand: Kane Williamson (captain), Rachin Ravindra, Devon Conway, Daryl Mitchell, Tom Latham (wicketkeeper), Glenn Phillips, Mark Chapman, Mitchell Santner, Lockie Ferguson, Tim Southee and Trent Boult.

Sri Lanka: Kusal Mendis (captain and wicketkeeper), Kusal Perera, Pathum Nissanka, Sadira Samarawickrama, Charith Asalanka, Angelo Mathews, Dhananjay de Silva, Mahish Teekshana, Dilshan Madushanka, Dushmantha Chameera and Chamika Karunaratne.