Thanks to a brilliant bowling performance by Trent Boult, New Zealand defeated Sri Lanka by five wickets on Thursday and reached the threshold of the World Cup semi-finals.
Chasing a modest target of 172 runs to win, New Zealand achieved the target with 160 balls to spare with the help of an opening partnership between Devon Conway (45) and Rachin Ravindra (42).
The Kiwis remain in fourth place, 10 points ahead of Pakistan and Afghanistan and with a better net run-rate than their rivals.
Both Pakistan and Afghanistan need impossible winning margins in their last matches against England and South Africa respectively to have any chance of making the last four.
The Black Caps bounced back from four consecutive defeats in their last league match and enter a potential semi-final clash against undefeated India.
Ravindra, who also took two wickets, added three centuries to his blistering form in the tournament and overtook South Africa’s Quinton de Kock to top the batting charts with 565 runs.