Sri Lanka made a statement with a dominating 175-run victory over the UAE to start their World Cup Qualifying campaign. Strong teamwork with the bat and Wanindu Hasaranga’s first five-wicket haul in ODIs helped achieve this. After amassing 355/6 with half-centuries from their top four batters, Sri Lanka bowled the UAE for 180. Hasaranga had game-high figures (6-24), but the UAE hits were unable to take away from the Sri Lankan spinner.
After being asked to bat, Pathum Nissanka and Dimuth Karunaratne formed a first-wicket partnership of 95 runs, giving Sri Lanka an advantage. Karunaratne, the faster of the two, struck seven fours before Aayan Khan ran him out for 52 runs off 54 deliveries. After facing 66 balls, Nissanka reached his fifty before Basil Hameed bowled him. Following that, in just 79 deliveries. Kusal Mendis and Sadeera Samarawickrama contributed 105 runs for the third wicket, giving Sri Lanka a strong foundation.
At the age – 78, Ali Naseer got Mendis’ performance, scoring 10 fours; Samarawickrama had been close to retirement. Despite losing early wickets in the last few overs, Wanindu Hasaranga’s incredible cameo of 23 off 12 and Charith Asalanka’s blitz of 48 not out off 23 with five fours and two sixes enabled Sri Lanka to surpass the 350-run threshold.
UAE, Rohan Mustafa’s start in the chase Despite the strong innings abruptly came to an end when Lahiru Kumara called him for caught and bowled. The subsequent termination of Muhammad Waseem by Wanindu Hasaranga put a stop to a promising collaboration with Vriitya Aravind. During the subsequent takeover, Basil Hameed also received a strike. Hasaranga had won a further match as Asif Khan was eliminated, eliminating the UAE’s record to 99/4. Dhananjaya de Silva, who received a score of 119/5, defeated Aravind. Ali Naseer attempted an attempt to protect the UAE, but Hasaranga persisted . He bowled Sri Lanka to a stunning win by taking five wickets for the first time in an ODI and adding one more.
Brief scores:
UAE 180 in 39 overs (Muhammad Waseem 39, Vriitya Aravind 39; Wanindu Hasaranga 6-24) was beaten by Sri Lanka 255/6 in 50 overs (Kusal Mendis 78, Sadeera Samarawickrama 73; Ali Naseer 2-44) by 175 runs.
Ireland vs Oman
In their first Qualifiers match, Oman upset Ireland by defeating them by a margin of five wickets. In part to the opposing strokes of Harry Tector and George Dockrell, Ireland scored 281/7. The score was insufficient despite half-centuries from Kashyap Prajapati, Aqib Ilyas, and Zeeshan Maqsood. With 11 deliveries left, Oman was able to win thanks to Mohammad Nadeem’s unbroken 46-run innings.
After the introduction, Ireland’s top order batters made promising starts, but Oman often struck, resulting in three of the top five falling.The innings’ foundations felt Tector’s strict 50-run effort and his 79-run partnership with Dockrell. However, after 46 overs and additional dismissals, Ireland’s equal was 240/7. Dockrell contributed significantly to Ireland’s innings, scoring 65 runs off 77 balls, ensuring an effective completion and helping them reach a total of 280 . He made 91 off 89 swings in the final round, with seven fours and two sixes.
Oman’s fourth over saw only nine runs scored, not the best start to the chase. Singh Jatinder had no light. But it was Prajapati and Ilyas’ 94-run partnership for the second wicket that gave Oman a boost. Ilyas got fifty in just 47 balls. Dockrell broke the partnership in his second over by having Ilyas top edge a slog sweep. Prajapati and Maqsood pulled up an awesome 63-run partnership when he hit fifty to keep Oman in the match.
Maqsood’s fifty and Nadeem’s association for a 64 off the final 12 overs allowed the squad to continue despite Prajapati’s departure. With Oman into by four runs, Josh Little made a crucial breakthrough when he ditched Maqsood for 59. With 23 runs remaining for Oman, Mark Adair eliminated Ayaan Khan, ending the important fifth wicket partnership between Nadeem and Ayaan Khan. But Nadeem made sure there weren’t more problems by working with Shoaib Khan to advocate Oman’s win in the penultimate round.
Brief scores:
Ireland 281/7 in 50 overs (George Dockrell 91*, Harry Tector 52; Bilal Khan 2-64) lost to Oman 285/5 in 48.1 overs (Kashyap Prajapati 72, Zeeshan Maqsood 59; Joshua Little 2-47) by 5 wickets.
