Kiwis wary of WC dreams being washed away
AGENCIES
New Zealand will need to get back to winning ways against Sri Lanka in order to keep their ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup campaign on track but the task seems trickier as rain looms over the fixture.
New Zealand captain Kane Williamson insisted Wednesday his team will “focus on cricket” when they face a potentially make-or-break clash with Sri Lanka, shrugging off fears that rain may return to wash away their World Cup dreams.
With Pakistan and Afghanistan breathing down their necks, only an emphatic victory against Sri Lanka in Bengaluru today can give some relief to Williamson and Co. While a loss wouldn’t rule them out yet, the Kiwis would then leave their fate solely to other results going their way.
Williamson’s team lost a rain-hit match at the same Bengaluru venue last weekend against Pakistan despite posting a mammoth 401.
Pakistan won by 21 runs via the DLS method after scoring 200-1 in 25.3 overs, edging ahead on the required run rate when the game was halted due to the weather.
The defeat was a fourth successive loss for the Kiwis who had won their opening four games.
New Zealand, runners-up in the last two editions of the World Cup, are fourth in the table and need a win on Thursday to push their bid to secure a semifinal spot. But their bid for the last four could be marred as rain is forecast during the game.
A washout could open the door for either Pakistan or Afghanistan to leapfrog them and grab the remaining last-four place.
“There’s lots of things that we can’t control and the weather is one of those,” Williamson told reporters on the eve of the game against 1996 champions Sri Lanka.
“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.”
Afghanistan and Pakistan have the same number of points as New Zealand while India, South Africa, and Australia have already sealed semifinal places.
Williamson returned in the previous match after recovering from a broken thumb to make a valiant 95 in a 180-run stand with Rachin Ravindra, who hit 108.
Lockie Ferguson, who has claimed eight wickets in five matches and missed the previous two games with an Achilles injury, has now recovered to be available for selection.
Williamson said Ferguson “balances out our attack nicely” but did not reveal the team for the all-important match.
Fast bowler Matt Henry was ruled out of the rest of the tournament last week with a torn hamstring and Kyle Jamieson has taken his place in the squad.
Ravindra has stood out for the Kiwis with 523 runs including three centuries to boost his team’s run-making ability despite recent losses.
Meanwhile, a three-wicket loss to Bangladesh was Sri Lanka’s sixth defeat for the tournament, a disappointing turn of events for a side playing in conditions that favour their strengths.
While the likes of Sadeera Samarawickrama, Pathum Nissanka, and Dilshan Madushanka have shined in their departments, many of the big names haven’t quite had the tournament they would have liked.
The side can change that with a spirited display in Bengaluru.