NEW DELHI: New Zealand captain Kane Williamson won the toss and chose to bowl against Sri Lanka in the 41st match of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Thursday.
The Kiwis made one change bringing in Lockie Ferguson for Ish Sodhi.
For Sri Lanka, Kasun Rajitha made way for Chamika Karunaratne.
After winning the toss, Williamson said, "We will have a bowl first. Little bit of weather around. Little bit of unknowns. By and large we have won a few and lost a few. Been there and there abouts. Some close ones which could have gone either ways. Here we are here today, would want to address the issue in front of us. Lockie comes in for Ish Sodhi. Adjust to what is in front of us. Make use of the ball first up."
After losing the toss, Sri Lanka skipper Kusal Mendis said, "I was looking to bowl. But unfortunately we are batting first. Very important game today. If we do the basics well, we should do well. NZ is a calm team. We played here against and played well. One change for us. Rajitha is not playing but Chamika is playing."
"There's been heavy thunderstorms in the last two or three days. Groudsmen say it should be okay today though. Still 80% chance of precipitation. Square boundaries are not large, 67m to one side and 60m to the other. Pitch is a batting beauty. Least pace reduction off the pitch here in this World Cup which means it comes on to the bat better. Captains will be desperate to chase. Cloudy and humid right now but no rain," reckoned Mark Howard and Sanjay Manjrekar in their pitch report.
New Zealand XI: Devon Conway, Rachin Ravindra, Kane Williamson(c), Daryl Mitchell, Mark Chapman, Glenn Phillips, Mitchell Santner, Tom Latham(w), Tim Southee, Trent Boult, Lockie Ferguson
Sri Lanka XI: Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Perera, Kusal Mendis(w/c), Sadeera Samarawickrama, Charith Asalanka, Angelo Mathews, Dhananjaya de Silva, Chamika Karunaratne, Maheesh Theekshana, Dushmantha Chameera, Dilshan Madushanka
