New Zealand arrived in Bengaluru, needing to win their last league stage match against Sri Lanka to keep their semifinal hopes alive. They secured a victory by five wickets which kept them in fourth place on the table with 10 points next to their name and a very healthy net run-rate of +0.743.
The star of the show for the Blackcaps was Trent Boult, who took 3 for 37 in 10 overs to prevent Sri Lanka from posting a tall score on the board. Speaking to the press after the match, the left-arm pacer expressed satisfaction at the bowling performance and was happy to be on the right side of the result.
“Yeah, satisfied to obviously get the win, get two very crucial points. I thought with the ball we were put under a bit of pressure, but we stuck to the plans we put in place and it’s nice to be on the right side of it,” Boult said.
During the course of his spell on Thursday, Boult also took his 50th wicket in ODI World Cups and he hoped to add a few more to the tally in the upcoming matches. “Very proud, not something that I was ever targeting, but yeah, everyone loves World Cup cricket. Everyone wants to play against the best players and test their game out. Yeah, I’ve been very fortunate to have three campaigns in the ODI shares and, yeah, nice to be contributing. I’ve enjoyed playing with all the guys here.
Follow all the action from the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 including the World Cup schedule, World Cup 2023 results, and ICC Cricket World Cup points table. Players are vying to top the World Cup 2023 Most Runs and World Cup 2023 Most Wickets charts.
“I’ve got very good friends in the team and, you know, we really help each other out. So nice to bring up 50 this afternoon and yeah, hopefully a few more.
The win also means New Zealand are likely to play the semifinal and face India at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on November 15. Boult said that it would be exciting to take on the Men in Blue as and when the match is confirmed. “I can’t speak on what they’re thinking but from our point of view to play World Cup in India and to come up against the host nation a team that’s red hot playing good cricket at a great ground – you couldn’t script it any better.”
“So excited if that happens, I feel like we’ve done all we can from our point of view and yeah, we’ll just wait and see what happens,” he said.
Inconsistency led to Sri Lanka’s downfall at 2023 ODI World Cup, says head coach Chris Silverwood
The loss also dented Sri Lanka’s chances of qualifying for the 2025 Champions Trophy as they find themselves in ninth place on the points table with four points to their name but worryingly with a net run-rate of -1.419.
Addressing the media after the match, head coach Chris Silverwood said that a key factor behind Sri Lanka’s poor run in the tournament was the team’s inconsistency and had they grabbed a few more chances that came their way, their campaign may have looked different.
ALSO READ| India vs Pakistan Semifinal Possible? What Babar Azam and Co. Must do to Qualify After NZ Hammer SL
“I think inconsistency. I think it would be fair to use that word. I think we’ve played some good cricket along the way, and I think we’ll look back on certain games and rue missed opportunities, to be honest. There have been certain games during this campaign that if we’d have taken the opportunities that were put our way, this could have looked a lot different.”
“But the fact is that we have been inconsistent and it’s something that we’ve been working on for a long time and something we need to continue working on. So, yeah, I think inconsistent is a word we can use,” Silverwood said on Thursday.
Silverwood felt that while Sri Lanka had endured a tough run at the tournament, it was important to let the emotions die down before analysing what had gone wrong for the side. “Yeah, as I said earlier, I think we have to let the emotions settle at the moment. But I think what we have to do is, as I explained before, is we have to dissect this. We have to have a very good debrief and dig deep into what has worked and what hasn’t worked and then try and plan that way forward obviously for the next cycle,” the former England coach said.
He also felt that Sri Lanka’s fielding could have been a lot better than what it was and it was an area where the coaching staff was working hard to ensure there was improvement in the upcoming matches. “Yeah, it’s frustrating because I mean certain catches that we’ve put down during this tournament have cost us heavily. It’s again something that we’re constantly working on. Our fielding coach is constantly working on that and trying to obviously push the standards higher. But clearly there’s still work to be done as well. I mean, we are getting ourselves in positions where there’s more catches coming our way.”
Comments
0 comment