WC PIX: Kiwis on threshold of semis after Lanka rout

IMAGES from the ICC World Cup match between New Zealand and Sri Lanka at the M Chinnaswamy stadium, in Bengaluru, on Thursday.

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New Zealand virtually made sure of a place in the semi-finals of the ICC World Cup after thrashing Sri Lanka by five wickets at the M Chinnaswamy stadium, in Bengaluru, on Thursday.

They dismissed Sri Lanka for a paltry 171, following superb bowling by pacer Trent Boult, who picked three wickets for 37 runs, and then chased down the target for the loss of five wickets, in 23.2 overs.

Devon Conway top-scored for the Kiwis with 45, while Daryl Mitchell and Rachin Ravindra made 43 and 42 respectively.

Boult rediscovered his magic with the new ball and Santner skilfully exploited the slight grip on offer as New Zealand ran through Sri Lanka's batting

The result helped them to snap a four-match losing streak.

New Zealand (NRR: +0.743) now have 10 points after completing their league engagements and will in all likelihood join India, Australia and South Africa in the last four stage, unless Pakistan or Afghanistan, who are on eight points each, come up with something out of the ordinary in their last matches.

In their final league match, Pakistan (NRR: +0.036) face England on Saturday while Afghanistan (NRR: -0.338) will lock horns with South Africa on Friday.

Earlier, New Zealand produced a forceful effort through left-arm pacer Boult (3/37) and left-arm spinner Santner (2/22) after electing to field.

Opener Kusal Perera, who was dropped on 1 by stumper Tom Latham off Tim Southee, scored a belligerent 51 off 28 balls, a mere footnote in an otherwise shambolic batting effort.

Boult, however, owned the noon in his inimitable fashion.

The 35-year-old was struggling for rhythm in the last couple of matches, but he revealed his true colours with a bit of nip in the air, jagging the ball around.

After Southee jettisoned Pathum Nissanka, Boult dismissed Sri Lanka’s captain Kusal, whose mistimed pull ended up with Rachin Ravindra near square leg, off the first ball of the fifth over.

Three balls later, Boult angled one across in-form Sadeera Samarawickrama, and the indecisive right-hander nibbled it to Latham.

A couple of overs later, Boult trapped Charith Asalanka in front of the wicket with one that came wee bit in to reduce Lanka to 70 for 4.

Angelo Matthews and Dhananjaya de Silva could not negate Santner's accuracy and the deliveries that spun away from them, and perished cheaply, effectively signalling the end of the Lankan fight.

However, while the castle was crumbling around him, Perera played a gem of an innings.

His batting was so reminiscent of his idol, Sanath Jayasuriya – short back-lift and a woodcutter's forearms sending the ball miles away.

But Perera had not made the kind of impact expected of him, making just one fifty against Australia in the tournament and failing to reach double digits in five other innings prior to this day.

The left-hander, who was dropped on 1 by Latham off Tim Southee, was in his element in Bengaluru and creamed the Kiwis bowlers around the park.

He made Southee suffer as well, extracting 18 runs off the pacer's third over, the innings' sixth, through a sequence of 6, 4, 4, 4, 4.

The pick-up six off his feet over long-on and the drive past the point fielder were the standout shots in that series.

Perera soon reached his 17th ODI fifty, the second of this World Cup, with another cracking cover drive off returning pacer Lockie Ferguson.

But the fun ended soon as Ferguson had the last laugh – an attempted loft over the covers ended in the hands of Santner.

Ferguson, who pinged Maheesh Theekshana on his arm, returned to rattle the late-order batsmen with his high pace, to add a couple of more wickets.

Theekshana and Dilshan Madhushanke added 43 runs for the final wicket, the highest in the Lankan essay, but Sri Lanka ended up with a vastly under-par total.

While chasing the small total it was important for the Kiwis to win handsomely to stay ahead of the other contenders, and both Conway and Ravindra were aware of it. They exploited the struggles of Lankan bowlers to find the right line quite mercilessly.

Pacer Dushmantha Chameera occasionally managed to purchase some lift off the pitch but there was nothing really unnegotiable. Ravindra proved that with a six off Chameera himself and a couple of other maximums of spinner De Silva.

However, Conway would repent missing a fifty that was there for the taking after a little shimmy and whack off Chameera ended in the hands of De Silva inside the circle.

Conway has not scored a fifty in eight innings in this tournament after starting off the block with a big hundred against England at Ahmedabad.

Ravindra too could have added another fifty-plus score to his swelling kitty of runs but his almighty cross-batted heave off Maheesh Theekshana could not clear De Silva at mid-on.

At 88 for 2 in the 14th over, New Zealand were not in any trouble but they needed some quick runs to stay ahead in run rate mathematics.

Mitchell did precisely that. The right-hander has been a silent success story for the Black Caps in this showpiece, having amassed over 400 runs averaging 67.33 at a strike-rate of 109.78.

Coming in at No. 4, the 32-year-old often worked as the link between top and down the order batters, gluing the innings together.

He performed that task once again with carefully planned stroke-play and Mitchell picking the gaps with precision was a treat to watch.

The Hamilton man also used his feet well against Theekshana never allowing him to settle down, evidenced by that massive six he pummelled over long-off.

But the needless run out of Mark Chapman while the Kiwis were cruising stood as a sore point as he had to sacrifice his wicket for Mitchell, and the former was not entirely chuffed about it either.

New Zealand, though, managed to move past the tape from that point without too many hiccups.

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