The weather might disrupt the match that New Zealand must win against Sri Lanka as they look to cement a semifinal spot.
New Zealand captain Kane Williamson says his team will “focus on cricket” when they face a potentially make-or-break ICC Cricket World Cup clash with Sri Lanka, shrugging off fears that rain may return to wash away their semifinal chances at Bengaluru’s M Chinnaswamy Stadium.
Williamson’s team lost a rain-hit match at the same venue last weekend against Pakistan despite posting a mammoth 401.
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.
A washout could open the door for either Pakistan or Afghanistan to leapfrog them and grab the last remaining place in the final four. Both teams have the same number of points as New Zealand but are behind on net run rate.
“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.
“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.”
Sri Lanka was embroiled in a controversy in their last match against Bangladesh on Monday when Angelo Mathews became the first cricketer to be dismissed “timed out” in an international match.
The 1996 champions lost the match by three wickets and are eighth on the points table.
Mathews and Shakib react to much-discussed 'timed out' dismissal.#BANvSL #CWC23https://t.co/MaTvGOxMsG
— ICC (@ICC) November 6, 2023
Weather watch
All eyes will be on the skies in Bengaluru as rain is expected for at least two hours during the match. The Chinnaswamy Stadium is known to be among the better-equipped venues to deal with rainfall, but if the downpour doesn’t stop, it is unlikely that the match will be completed.
Head to head
Both teams have met in the ICC Cricket World Cup on 11 occasions, and Sri Lanka holds a slight edge with six wins compared with their opponents’ five.
Source: Aljazeera
