Sri Lanka managed to qualify for the Super 6 stage of the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier as they recorded their third successive win in the tournament defeating Ireland by 133 runs today (25th June) at Queen’s Sports Club in Bulawayo.
Ireland skipper Andrew Balbirnie won the toss and invited Sri Lanka to take the first lease of the wicket. Sri Lanka came up with an unchanged side while Ireland made one change to their playing XI, bringing in Barry McCarthy to replace Ben White.
Sri Lanka (Playing XI): Pathum Nissanka, Dimuth Karunaratne, Kusal Mendis(w), Sadeera Samarawickrama, Charith Asalanka, Dasun Shanaka(c), Dhananjaya de Silva, Wanindu Hasaranga, Maheesh Theekshana, Kasun Rajitha, Lahiru Kumara
Ireland (Playing XI): Paul Stirling, Andy McBrine, Andrew Balbirnie(c), Harry Tector, Lorcan Tucker(w), Curtis Campher, George Dockrell, Gareth Delany, Mark Adair, Joshua Little, Barry McCarthy
Karunaratne and Nissanka provided a solid start to the innings, building a 48-run stand for the first wicket but two wickets in two consecutive deliveries including the set batter Nissanka put Sri Lanka onto the backfoot.
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However, Karunaratne and Samarawickrama revived the innings, adding a massive 168-run stand for the 3rd wicket. Karunaratne reached his maiden ODI century while Samarawickrama scored his highest score in ODIs – 82. The pair batted sensibly and made the pitch look flat while they were in the middle.
After a massive stand between Karunaratne and Samarawickrama, it looked like Sri Lanka will get to 350, but Ireland dismissed both the set batters to slow down the proceedings with the bat for Sri Lanka.
De Silva (42) and Asalanka (38) played vital cameos down the order for Sri Lanka, but Ireland bowlers showed good fightback to keep Sri Lanka to 325.
Coming to the chase, Ireland needed a big innings from one of their main batters, but they failed to come good. Stirling fell to a slog and Tector after looking good was trapped in front by wrist spinner Hasaranga.
Dockrell and Campher showed some resistance for a while but Hasaranga continued to chip away, taking wickets at regular intervals to put Ireland onto the backfoot.
Hasaranga was expensive today as he gave away 79 runs in his 10-over spell, but managed to get a fifer to send Ireland packing. With this 5-wicket haul, Hasaranga joined former Pakistan fast bowler Waqar Younis as the only bowler in taking fifers in three consecutive ODIs.
With this win, Sri Lanka secured their place in the Super 6 stage while Ireland was knocked out of the tournament.
Sri Lanka will take on Scotland in their final Group Stage game on Tuesday (27th June) at the same Ground.
Result
| Batsmen | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pathum Nissanka | c Gareth Delany b Barry McCarthy | 20 | 26 | 4 | 0 | 76.92 |
| Dimuth Karunaratne | b Mark Adair | 103 | 103 | 8 | 0 | 100.00 |
| Kusal Mendis | lbw b Barry McCarthy | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Sadeera Samarawickrama | c Harry Tector b Gareth Delany | 82 | 86 | 4 | 0 | 95.35 |
| Charith Asalanka | c Curtis Campher b Gareth Delany | 38 | 30 | 1 | 2 | 126.67 |
| Dhananjaya de Silva | not out | 42 | 35 | 4 | 1 | 120.00 |
| Dasun Shanaka | c George Dockrell b Barry McCarthy | 5 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 71.43 |
| Wanindu Hasaranga | c Josh Little b Mark Adair | 4 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 80.00 |
| Mahesh Theekshana | c Lorcan Tucker b Mark Adair | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Lahiru Kumara | c & b Mark Adair | 4 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 100.00 |
| Kasun Rajitha | run out (Paul Stirling) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Extras | 27 (b 3 , lb 2 , nb 1, w 21, pen 0) |
| Total | 325/10 (49.5 Overs, RR: 6.52) |
| Fall of Wickets | 1-48 (8.3) Pathum Nissanka, 2-48 (8.4) Kusal Mendis, 3-216 (35.1) Sadeera Samarawickrama, 4-235 (37.3) Dimuth Karunaratne, 5-281 (44.1) Charith Asalanka, 6-299 (46.1) Dasun Shanaka, 7-304 (47.1) Wanindu Hasaranga, 8-304 (47.3) Mahesh Theekshana, 9-325 (49.4) Lahiru Kumara, 10-325 (49.5) Kasun Rajitha, |
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Josh Little | 8 | 0 | 78 | 0 | 9.75 | |
| Mark Adair | 9.5 | 1 | 46 | 4 | 4.84 | |
| Barry McCarthy | 9 | 1 | 56 | 3 | 6.22 | |
| Andy McBrine | 6 | 0 | 36 | 0 | 6.00 | |
| Curtis Campher | 3 | 0 | 19 | 0 | 6.33 | |
| George Dockrell | 4 | 0 | 33 | 0 | 8.25 | |
| Gareth Delany | 10 | 0 | 52 | 2 | 5.20 | |
| Batsmen | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Andy McBrine | c Lahiru Kumara b Kasun Rajitha | 17 | 21 | 3 | 0 | 80.95 |
| Paul Stirling | c Kusal Mendis b Lahiru Kumara | 6 | 11 | 1 | 0 | 54.55 |
| Andy Balbirnie | lbw b Wanindu Hasaranga | 12 | 13 | 2 | 0 | 92.31 |
| Harry Tector | lbw b Wanindu Hasaranga | 33 | 35 | 3 | 1 | 94.29 |
| Lorcan Tucker | b Dasun Shanaka | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Curtis Campher | c Kusal Mendis b Mahesh Theekshana | 39 | 31 | 4 | 1 | 125.81 |
| George Dockrell | not out | 26 | 34 | 1 | 0 | 76.47 |
| Gareth Delany | b Wanindu Hasaranga | 19 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 237.50 |
| Mark Adair | c Dasun Shanaka b Wanindu Hasaranga | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 200.00 |
| Barry McCarthy | c Lahiru Kumara b Mahesh Theekshana | 5 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 41.67 |
| Josh Little | c & b Wanindu Hasaranga | 20 | 14 | 2 | 1 | 142.86 |
| Extras | 11 (b 4 , lb 4 , nb 0, w 3, pen 0) |
| Total | 192/10 (31 Overs, RR: 6.19) |
| Fall of Wickets | 1-21 (3.4) Paul Stirling, 2-39 (6.2) Andy McBrine, 3-57 (10.3) Andy Balbirnie, 4-58 (11.3) Lorcan Tucker, 5-116 (19.6) Curtis Campher, 6-141 (22.3) Gareth Delany, 7-145 (22.5) Mark Adair, 8-162 (27.4) Barry McCarthy, 9-192 (30.6) Josh Little, 10-86 (161) Harry Tector, |
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kasun Rajitha | 5 | 1 | 22 | 1 | 4.40 | |
| Lahiru Kumara | 5 | 0 | 33 | 1 | 6.60 | |
| Dasun Shanaka | 5 | 0 | 21 | 1 | 4.20 | |
| Wanindu Hasaranga | 10 | 0 | 79 | 5 | 7.90 | |
| Mahesh Theekshana | 6 | 0 | 29 | 2 | 4.83 | |
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