Another gripping day of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup Qualifier saw Sri Lanka win big against Oman, while Richie Berrington scored a brilliant ton to help Scotland to a competitive score against UAE.
Sri Lanka brushed off Oman in their Group B encounter at the Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo by registering a thumping 10-wicket victory. The result meant that they climbed to the summit of Group B and put themselves in a strong position to qualify for the Super Six stage of the tournament.
Chasing a low total of 99, openers Dimuth Karunaratne and Pathum Nissanka barely broke a sweat, completing the task in 15 overs. Karunaratne was unbeaten on 61 while Nissanka scored 37* as Sri Lanka not only sealed a win but also bolstered their net run rate.
Earlier, Sri Lanka skipper Dasun Shanaka called it right at the toss at the Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo and opted to bowl first. His call paid immediate dividends as Sri Lanka had a brilliant start with the ball, with their pacers breathing fire on the Oman batters. The pace of Lahiru Kumara and Kasun Rajitha was too much for the Oman top-order to handle, as they found themselves in massive trouble early on.
Kashyap Prajapati was the first wicket to fall, as Kumara trapped him in front of the stumps. Aqib Ilyas followed suit, with Rajitha getting in on the act.
Kumara was in no mood to stop as he sent Zeeshan Maqsood and Mohammad Nadeem packing in quick succession, as Oman found themselves reeling at 20/4.
Ayaan Khan and Jatinder Singh then embarked on a rebuild job for Oman, putting together a 52-run stand. But it all changed again in a blink of an eye for Oman, as Wanindu Hasaranga delivered one of the overs of the Qualifier so far.
The 21st over by Hasaranga fetched him three wickets while also being a maiden. Hasaranga first trapped Jatinder Singh lbw for 21 in the first delivery. The third delivery then saw him bowl Shoaib Khan out. He completed the trifecta by getting Jay Odedra on the final delivery of the over.
Oman then found themselves in further trouble as miscommunication between Ayaan Khan and Naseem Khushi led to the latter being run out for 1 after brilliant work in the deep from Rajitha.
This left Oman reeling at 84/8 at the halfway mark.
Ayaan’s gritty knock of 41 would then come to an end with Hasaranga scalping his fourth courtesy of a brilliant catch in the slips by Dhananjaya de Silva. Hasaranga would clinch his second consecutive five-wicket haul in the tournament, trapping Bilal Khan for zero, as Oman were bowled out for 98.
