BENGALURU, Nov 9 (Reuters) - Seamer Trent Boult and spinner Mitchell Santner landed timely blows as New Zealand restricted Sri Lanka to 171 all out in their World Cup encounter at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Thursday. A big win for New Zealand will put them in a strong position to bag the last semi-final spot and join India, South Africa and Australia, while Sri Lanka need a victory to boost their chances of a top-eight finish for 2025 Champions Trophy qualification. New Zealand captain Kane Williamson's decision to bowl after winning the toss paid off early as pacemen Boult (3-37) and Tim Southee (1-52) ripped through Sri Lanka's top-order to leave them in trouble at 32-3 inside five overs. A fit-again Lockie Ferguson (2-35) struck in his second over to dismiss the aggressive Perera for 51 as Sri Lanka crumbled to 70-5 before folding in the 47th over for a modest total after Santner (2-22) and Rachin Ravindra (2-21) joined the party. Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Bengaluru; Editing by Pritha SarkarOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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Persons: Seamer Trent Boult, Mitchell Santner, Kane Williamson's, pacemen Boult, Tim Southee, Kusal Perera, Tom Latham, Boult, Charith Asalanka, Lockie Ferguson, Perera, Rachin Ravindra, Shrivathsa Sridhar, Pritha Sarkar Organizations: New Zealand, Sri, Thomson Locations: BENGALURU, Zealand, Sri Lanka, India, South Africa, Australia, Sri Lanka's, New Zealand, Bengaluru