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With 160 balls remaining, New Zealand’s commanding
five-wicket victory against Sri Lanka in Bengaluru virtually guaranteed them a
spot in the World Cup semi-final against India. As a result, they now have 10
points and a net run rate (NRR) of 0.743. Pakistan must now defeat England by
287 runs, and Afghanistan must defeat South Africa by an even more astounding
438 runs in order to surpass New Zealand’s NRR.
Due to their narrow loss to New Zealand, Sri Lanka is
currently ranked ninth and is so ineligible for the 2025 Champions Trophy. In
order for their respective NRRs to fall below Sri Lanka’s, they now need to
lose against either Bangladesh or England, and the Netherlands must also lose
to India.
An excellent all-around bat and ball performance led
to New Zealand’s victory. Winning the toss and sending Sri Lanka in seemed to
be the most sensible method to assure not only an NRR-boosting victory but also
a buffer against any rain interruptions and DLS interventions, even though the
possibility of rain in Bengaluru ultimately proved to be a misleading herring.
Thus it turned out. Even though several late wickets
were lost, Devon Conway, Rachin Ravindra, and Daryl Mitchell all contributed
with fourties to help easily defeat Sri Lanka’s 171 total.
Ravindra and Conway put on an innings-long stand of 86
on a wicket that was even better to bat on under lights, but Mitchell’s 43 off
just 31 balls sealed the victory. Although none of the three managed to finish,
the victory was always assured.
It took a while for New Zealand to get there, after
winning their first four matches and then losing their next four, but this
victory has all but ensured a fifth consecutive ODI World Cup semi-final.