Produced by: Prashanti Moktan Designed by: Manoj Kumar
Kane Williamson-led New Zealand will be facing Kusal Mendis-led Sri Lanka in today's crucial World Cup match, where NZ could move towards solidifying their spot in the ICC World Cup 2023 semi-finals
Kane Williamson (c), Trent Boult, Mark Chapman, Devon Conway, Lockie Ferguson, Kyle Jamieson, Tom Latham, Daryl Mitchell, Jimmy Neesham, Glenn Phillips, Rachin Ravindra, Mitch Santner, Ish Sodhi, Tim Southee, Will Young
Kusal Mendis (c), Kusal Perera, Pathum Nissanka, Dushmantha Chameera, Dimuth Karunaratne, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Charith Asalanka, Dhananjaya de Silva, Maheesh Theekshana, Dunith Wellalage, Kasun Rajitha, Angelo Mathews, Dilshan Madushanka, Dushan Hemantha, Chamika Karunaratne
The New Zealand vs Sri Lanka World Cup match will be played at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. The pitch is favourable to batsmen. Compact boundaries may prove to be challenging even though pacers and spinners may find some support
Rain and thunderstorms will most likely affect the match and in the worst case scenario for New Zealand, the match may get washed out. As per Accuweather, there is a 90 per cent probability of precipitation and 54 per cent probability of thunderstorms in Bengaluru during the day. Rain has already played spoilsport for the Black Caps as they lost to Pakistan by 21 runs via DLS despite posting a massive 401 runs on the board at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium
For New Zealand to comfortably cruise to the semi-final, they must win against Sri Lanka as they already have a better run rate and can hope to improve it in today’s match. The final spot in the World Cup semis will then be up for grabs for Pakistan and Afghanistan, the other two teams which also have 8 points like NZ in the World Cup standings currently and one more match to be played. Depending on NZ’s win, Pakistan and Afghanistan will have to score big to be able to pip NZ to the lone semi-final seat. In a scenario where the match gets washed out or New Zealand lose to Sri Lanka, then both Afghanistan and Pakistan have to lose in order for NZ to get to the semis
New Zealand vs Sri Lanka World Cup match will begin at 2 pm. The toss will take place at 1:30 pm
New Zealand vs Sri Lanka can be live streamed for free on the OTT platform Disney+ Hotstar. The match will be telecast on Star Sports Network channels
Google predicts that New Zealand has a 77% chance of winning the match against Sri Lanka in today's World Cup match.
India tops the World Cup standings currently with 16 points. South Africa and Australia have already qualified to the semi final as well with 12 points each. With 8 points each, New Zealand, Pakistan and Afghanistan take the 4th, 5th and 6th spots with NRRs of +0.398, +0.036 and -0.338 respectively