Trent Boult starred with the ball as New Zealand cruised to a five-wicket victory over Sri Lanka in the 41st match of the World Cup at the M.Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Thursday.
Boult took three wickets for 37 runs as Sri Lanka were bundled out for 171, before New Zealand chased down the target with ease with 160 balls to spare.
The win leaves New Zealand in fourth place in the standings with 10 points, ahead of Pakistan and Afghanistan on net run-rate.
Both Pakistan and Afghanistan need to win their final matches against England and South Africa respectively by improbable margins to have any chance of reaching the semi-finals.
New Zealand's victory was built on a disciplined bowling performance, with Boult supported by Tim Southee, Mitchell Santner, and Daryl Mitchell.
Boult's 50th World Cup wicket was a special moment, and he was instrumental in restricting Sri Lanka to a modest total.
New Zealand's openers, Devon Conway and Rachin Ravindra, then set about the chase with aplomb.
Conway and Ravindra put on a 77-run partnership before the former was dismissed for 45.
Ravindra then followed his partner to the pavilion, but New Zealand cruised to victory with Daryl Mitchell finishing unbeaten on 43.
Earlier, after being put into bat, the Sri Lankan batters were not looking resilient at all. Kusal Perera was the only batter who showed some resistance, notching up a scintillating 28-ball 51, studded with nine fours and two sixes.
It was Maheesh Theekshana’s unbeaten and circumspect innings that took Sri Lanka to 171. Theekshana consumed 91 deliveries to hit 39, amassing three boundaries.
For Sri Lanka, Nissanka (2), Kusal Mendis (6), Sadeera Samarawickrama (1), Charith Asalanka (8), Angelo Mathews (16), Dhananjaya de Silva (19), Chamika Karunaratne (6) and Dushmantha Chameera (1) and Dilshan Madushanka (19) were failed to show any significant resistance with the bat.
Trent Boult (3-37) had utilised experience, spearheading his side by bagging three wickets.
Lockie Ferguson (2-35), Mitchell Santner (2-22), Rachin Ravindra (2-21) took two wickets apiece.
Glenn Phillips (0-3) remained wicketless.
