Direct Hit
New Zealand, who started the World Cup with a bang with four wins on the trot and looked to have sealed a place in the last four have ran out of steam in their last four games and might not even qualify for the semifinals if rain plays a spoil sport or if Sri Lanka beat them. Their downfall started after the loss to India and from there they have not been able to win inspite of scoring 400 against Pakistan and 370 against Australia.
New Zealand were on a roll when they first beat defending champions England in the opening game with more than 14 overs to spare and both Devon Conway and Rachin Ravindra scoring unbeaten hundreds.
They carried on their good start beating Netherlands, Afghanistan and Bangladesh but a freakish injury to Kane Williamson and lack of runs from Devon Conway stalled their progress. They had come agonisingly close in chasing down 388 against Australia but lost by 5 runs and in the game in Pune their decision to bat second against South Africa backfired and lost by a huge margin. And in their last game against Pakistan, inspite of scoring 400 runs batting first, they came across Fakhar Zaman their nemesis who has scored four centuries in a row against them and could not stop him again.
The equation is simple in their last game against Sri Lanka, if they win, they are almost certain to qualify as their net run rate is good and Pakistan will have to beat England by almost 130 runs which looks improbable. But there is rain forecast for Thursday's game and they will hope the rain stays away for qualifying for another semifinal in the World Cup. They have Kane Williamson back in the squad and looked very good scoring 97 against Pakistan.
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