Maheesh Theekshana four-wicket haul and Pathum Nissanka’s third ODI century helped Sri Lanka overcome West Indies by eight wickets in Harare. Sri Lanka kept up its perfect record in the preliminary rounds with the victory, and will now face Netherlands as the favourite.
As Sri Lanka got going right away chasing a total of 244, Nissanka and Dimuth Karunaratne put together a solid 190-run opening stand. Nissanka, who scored 104 runs off just 113 deliveries, including 12 boundaries, led Sri Lanka throughout the whole chase. Karunaratne skillfully crafted 83 off 92 was essential assistance.
Nissanka was caught by Kevin Sinclair while attempting to go for the big one at deep midwicket shortly after reaching his hundred. Despite the loss, Kusal Mendis took control and led Sri Lanka to triumph with a 34 of expertly executed shots, maintaining the team’s momentum. With 34 balls remaining, Mendis and Sadeera Samarawickrama completed the task.
Theekshana superb bowling earlier in the day dismissed Brandon King, Shamarh Brooks, and captain Shai Hope, leaving the hosts in trouble at 62 for four. Additionally contributing were Romario Shepherd (age 26) and Kevin Sinclair (age 25), raising the total above 200. The West Indies team failed to bat through all of their overs and the opposition bowled them out for 243, leaving only 11 balls remaining in the match.
Brief Scores:
West Indies 243 all out in 48.1 overs (Keacy Carty 87, Johnson Charles 39; Maheesh Theekshana 4/34) lost to Sri Lanka 244/2 in 44.2 overs (Pathum Nissanka 104, Dimuth Karunaratne 83; Kevin Sinclair 1/52) by 8 wickets.