Trent Boult looks ahead to likely semifinal vs 'red hot' India | NZ vs SL | Cricket World Cup 2023

Player of the match Trent Boult looked ahead to a likely World Cup semi-final meeting with "red hot" India after New Zealand beat Sri Lanka by five wickets in Bangalore on Thursday to all but assure their place in the last four.

'To play a World Cup in India and to come up against the host nation, a team that's red hot, playing good cricket, at a great ground... yeah, you couldn't script it any better. So, excited if that happens. I feel like we've done all we can from our point of view and, yeah, we'll just wait and see what happens,' Boult said.

When asked about the conditions in Mumbai for the semi-final, the pacer said, 'we've played India a lot of times. Quality players. (They) Know these conditions very well. Yeah, hard to comment on what the conditions at Wankhede (Stadium), but history suggests it's a good wicket. And yeah, nice to have come up against them in Dharamshala (in their group stage match). Totally different ground and different facilities, but yeah, we'll turn our focus to that challenge. Very, very good players, but pressure does things to the best of players at any time. So, just looking forward to taking that on.'

Boult took three wickets for 37 runs after New Zealand won the toss and decided to field, with the 2019 runners-up eventually bowling Sri Lanka out for 171.