Sri Lanka secure World Cup berth with dominant win over Zimbabwe
Sri Lanka qualified for the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2023 with a dominant performance over Zimbabwe. Maheesh Theekshana's superb bowling figures of 4/25 limited Zimbabwe to 165 all out inside 33 overs before Pathum Nissanka's century led Sri Lanka to a convincing nine-wicket victory. Put in to bat, Zimbabwe stumbled early, losing two wickets quickly, but Sikandar Raza steadied the innings with Sean Williams. However, Theekshana dismissed both the batters, and with support from Matheesha Pathirana cleaned up Zimbabwe's tail. Sri Lanka's openers Nissanka and Dimuth Karunaratne put on a solid 103-run partnership. Needing one run for a win and three runs for his second ODI century, Nissanka smashed a boundary and got SL over the line. Zimbabwe can still qualify if they beat Scotland.
Brief Scores: Zimbabwe 165 in 32.2 overs (Williams 56, Raza 31; Theekshana 4/25, Madushanka 3/15) lost to Sri Lanka 169/1 in 33.1 overs (Nissanka 101*, Karunaratne 30; Ngarava 1/35, Muzarabani 0/28) by 9 wickets
In a closely-fought match in Harare, Nepal secured a hard-fought win over the UAE in the seventh-place play-off semi-final. Opting to bowl first, Nepal got off to a strong start by dismissing opener Asif Khan for a duck before a 64-run partnership between captain Vriitya Aravind and Aryansh Sharma lent a sense of stability. However, Sandeep Lamichhane's impressive 3 for 23 shifted the momentum back in Nepal's favor as UAE were bowled out for 181. Chasing the target, Nepal faced early setbacks as Muhammad Jawadullah wreaked havoc, reducing them to 52 for 4. Opener Kushal Bhurtel's dismissal for 35 further complicated Nepal's chase but Dipendra Singh Airee's 79* off just 85 balls and his 79-run unbeaten stand with Lamichhane for the seventh wicket sealed the victory for Nepal. They will now face Ireland in the seventh-place play-off final.
Brief Scores: UAE 181 in 46.5 overs (Aravind 44, Mustafa 35; Lamichhane 3/23, Karan KC 3/36) lost to Nepal 185/7 in 43.2 overs (Airee 79*, Bhurtel 35; Jawadullah 3/46, Siddique 1/20) by 3 wickets
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