Lockie Ferguson, the paceman, said New Zealand would enter a probable World Cup semi-final against India with confidence after breaking a four-game losing streak against Sri Lanka in their final round-robin match. New Zealand’s crushing five-wicket victory on Thursday left Pakistan and Afghanistan needing miraculous wins in their last opening-round matches to displace the Black Caps from the semi-finals.
Ferguson, who missed two of New Zealand’s four defeats with an Achilles injury, returned with figures of 2-35 from a fiery spell at M Chinnaswamy Stadium. New Zealand really hit their stride in the bowling department to restrict Sri Lanka to 171 after their loss to Pakistan on the Duckworth-Lewis method.
Ferguson was confident that he would be fit to play a role against the hosts if New Zealand’s place in the semi-finals for the fourth straight World Cup is confirmed. He said the injury had been “niggly” enough to prevent him from bowling his full quota in the matches he missed, but hard work in the gym had paid off.