NZ vs SL: "They’ll Be Desperate To Give Them Something To Smile About Back At Home" - Chris Silverwood Backs Sri Lanka To Qualify For WTC Final

Sri Lanka will play the two-match series against New Zealand, with the first Test scheduled to begin on Thursday, March 9, at the Hagley Oval in Christchurch. Head coach Chris Silverwood has said that the Sri Lankan team will do their best to qualify for the 2023 World Test Championship (WTC) final for the first time, which will be held at the Oval in England on June 8.

Sri Lanka and New Zealand will play their final series in the ongoing WTC cycle. The Black Caps are already out of contention, while the Lankan Lions have a chance to advance to the final. The Dimuth Karunaratne-led team are in third place in the WTC points table behind India and Australia, and they need to whitewash the Kiwi team 2-0 to keep their hopes alive.

IPL 2023 | Australia tour of India 2023 | Dream11 Prediction | Fantasy Cricket Tips | Cricket Match Prediction Today | Cricket News | Cricket Live Score

It Would Mean Everything To Them – Chris Silverwood

Ahead of a tour game against a New Zealand XI, Chris Silverwood said that they have to respect the New Zealand team and play their best cricket to qualify for the WTC Final.

“It would mean everything to them. The country has been through a bit recently and we know the spirits are really lifted when the cricket team is doing well,” he said.

IPL 2023 | India National Cricket Team | IND vs AUS 2023 | India vs Australia 2023

“The guys are very aware of that and take that responsibility very seriously, so they’ll be desperate to give them something to smile about back at home. To get to the WTC Final would be unbelievable, but at the same time we know we’ve got a very good New Zealand team in front of us as well and we have to respect that, work hard, and try and earn that right,” he added.

Australia secured their berth for the WTC final after winning the Indore Test against India. Sri Lanka need to beat New Zealand 2-0 and complete a series sweep to retain their chances of reaching the WTC final, but their chances could be blown away if India beat Australia in the fourth and final Test in Ahmedabad.

Also read: IND vs AUS: How Many Demerit Points Did That Gabba Pitch Get… – Sunil Gavaskar Critical Of “Poor” Rating Of The Indore Pitch

Virat Kohli | Rohit Sharma | Rishabh Pant | KL Rahul | Suryakumar Yadav | Sanju Samson | Shreyas Iyer | Yuzvendra Chahal | Jasprit Bumrah