Sri Lanka vs New Zealand: Who comes on top at Chinnaswamy?

The 41st match of the ICC World Cup 2023 will be staged between Sri Lanka and New Zealand at Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore on Wednesday (November 8).

The Lankans are out of this competition but they can still spoil the party of their opposition.

New Zealand is currently slotted at number four in the points table with four wins from seven matches whereas Sri Lanka stands at number seven in the points table with two wins from seven games.

New Zealand on the other hand has lost track at the later stage of the tournament with 3 consecutive defeats and they need to ensure winning this game for a semi-final berth.

The encounter holds a lot of importance for Pakistan as well as they will be hoping for their Subcontinent friend to clinch something special as New Zealand’s defeat can ignite semi-final hopes of Pakistan.

New Zealand has come for this contest with so many injury scars from their camp that it seems like they hardly have eleven players to fulfill.

The injury list keeps on adding with Lockie Ferguson joining Mark Chapman and Kane Williamson which is very devastating for any team. In short, they only have 12 players to choose from for their playing 11.

In cricket, we emphasize a lot about momentum and the Kiwis seem to be losing at the wrong time, their three back-to-back defeats derailed their initial momentum and they lost the track.

Sri Lanka vs New Zealand: Head-to-head in ODIs

The two teams have locked horns in ODIs 101 times and New Zealand has come out victorious 51 times whereas Lankan giants came on top 41 times. The Kiwis have dominated them in ODIs and ensured their domination on most of the occasions.

The story is a little different when it comes to ODI World Cups where these two battled out 11 times and the men in blue won six times in comparison to their opponents who succeeded 5 times.

This clearly shows that Sri Lanka has handled pressure slightly better than them in world cups as it comes with a lot of expectations. New Zealand has always been a very good side whenever they play Bilaterals and their number reflects on that performance.

Players to Watch Out For

Here are the player list for Sri Lanka vs New Zealand to watch out for 2023 ICC World Cup.

Rachin Ravindra

The left-handed Rachin Ravindra has been a revelation for the Kiwis in this world cup. When they missed the services of Kane Williamson due to an unfortunate injury, everyone thought his shoes wouldn’t be filled easily by anyone.

Rachin ensured that not only did he cement his place in this team but also made a powerful impact in the competition.

He has already scored over 400 runs in this competition and has been the backbone of the team at no 3. The small boundaries of Bangalore would also be an ideal track for him to showcase his ability to the fullest and show an impact.

Players like Ravindra also add a lot of balance to their team only because of their ability to bat at the top 7 and contribute as a proper spinner which gives them 6 bowling options.

Darryl Mitchell

Another promising cricketer who took the limelight in the last couple of years for Kiwis is Darryl Mitchell. He has been quite brilliant for them both with the ball and bat.

The good thing about him is his ability to play spin efficiently and can also attack the pace with brutal power. He has already scored 346 runs in this World Cup and is one of the leading run-scorers for New Zealand.

It should not be a surprise if fans of Kiwis witness something special from him at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore.

Trent Boult

Trent Boult is one of the leading left-arm quick from New Zealand who intimidates the opposition batters with his quality new-ball bowling. The left-arm Kiwi is right at the top in the world right now along with Shaheen Shah Afridi and Mitchell Starc.

The ability to swing the new ball is a very natural art and Trent Boult is a Picasso of it, how often we see his swinging deliveries to the right-handers keeps them guessing all the time and gets them strangled in front of their pads.

The tall left-armer will be surely a hot pick to watch out for in this contest and if he does his magic with the new ball, it will surely put the Black Caps in a much more convincing and dominant position.

Kushal Mendis

Kushal Mendis from Sri Lanka is one of the textbook batters in this cricketing world. The 28-year-old right-hander is a treat to watch when he is in full flow as he plays proper cricketing shots and brings that wow factor with his batting.

This World Cup has been a kind of disappointment for Sri Lanka as they are out of the competition but he certainly has the marbles to gather some happiness for the people back in Sri Lanka.

He had an average tournament with a couple of decent knocks for the side and scored 269 runs so far in the competition but the stage can be an ideal one for him to finish this tournament on a high note.

Sri Lanka vs New Zealand: Match Prediction

This could be a high-scoring contest as Bangalore is a run-feast ground where most of the batters love batting. New Zealand might be a stronger side on paper but they certainly are on a rollover of three back-to-back defeats.

The Lankan Tigers can capitalize on this and ensure that they finish this tournament on a high note. They also managed to get the better of them in World Cups 6 times which gives them the confidence to play their natural game.

Most of the time Kiwis batters dominated Indian conditions while batting first and put mammoth totals over 350 which gave their bowling a fair amount of chance to defend.

The number of match winners they have surely keeps them a driving seat for this contest but it would not be a surprise if the Lankans come out victorious as they can dominate in good batting conditions.