New Zealand star pacer Trent Boult scripted history for his country against Sri Lanka in World Cup 2023 after he became the first Blackcaps player to take 50 wickets across the many editions of the tournament.
Boult’s early spell helped New Zealand pin their opponents down at 74/5 with the pacer claiming three of those five wickets. Tim Southee, who startedthe proceedings with the first wicket of the innings, is the second-most successful New Zealand bowler in the World Cups with 38.
Trent Boult became the first New Zealander to take 50 @cricketworldcup wickets when he dismissed Sri Lanka's Kusal Mendis in Bengaluru. Tim Southee has the next most with 38*. Follow play LIVE in NZ with @skysportnz. LIVE scoring | https://t.co/aNkBrDiAuv #CWC23 #StatChat pic.twitter.com/ys7G7YIp1e
— BLACKCAPS (@BLACKCAPS) November 9, 2023
The Blackcaps entered the match against Sri Lanka having lost their last four matches, with their most recent loss being due to a washout. Despite this, they were still in fourth place with a much better net run rate than Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Sri Lanka’s hopes of reaching the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 semi-finals were dashed after they suffered a defeat against Bangladesh, who were already eliminated. The match ended in controversial circumstances.
During Thursday’s match, Sri Lankan team was bundled on the score of 171 runs as the tail-end batters held their ground well and took the team to a fightable score.
Chasing 172 runs, New Zealand openers Devon Conway and Rachin Ravindra gave a brilliant start, but the Black Caps lost 5 wickets soon. However, by 23.2 over, New Zealand thrashed Sri Lanka by 5 wickets with 160 balls remaining at the ongoing ICC Men’s World Cup 2023 in Bengaluru.
Following this win, the Black Caps have inched closer to semi-finals with 10 points in 9 matches and a net runrate of (+)0.743. They are in the fourth position and all depends on how Pakistan performs against England on 11 November.
