Player of the Match
Player of the Match

Match Centre

Statistics

Best performances - Batsmen

P Nissanka
101(102) 14x4 - 0x6
Control %87%
  • Productive Shot
  • cut shot
  • 22 runs
  • 4x4 - 0x6
0 3 12 11 19 16 19 21
SC Williams
SC Williams
56(57) 6x4 - 1x6
Control %77%
  • Productive Shot
  • flick
  • 12 runs
  • 0x4 - 0x6
7 1 1 12 18 4 2 11

Best performances - Bowlers

M Theekshana
M Theekshana
O8.2
M1
R25
W4
Eco3.00
RHB
OFFLEG
1W
1W
  • FTFULL TOSS
  • YYORKER
  • FFULL LENGTH
  • GGOOD LENGTH
  • SGSHORT OF GOOD LENGTH
  • SSHORT LENGTH
LHB
LEGOFF
2W
D Madushanka
D Madushanka
O5
M0
R15
W3
Eco3.00
RHB
OFFLEG
1W
1W
  • FTFULL TOSS
  • YYORKER
  • FFULL LENGTH
  • GGOOD LENGTH
  • SGSHORT OF GOOD LENGTH
  • SSHORT LENGTH
LHB
LEGOFF
1W

Scorer: @Thilak_Rama | Commentator: Rvel Zahid

It has been a pleasure bringing you live commentary and sharing in the excitement. Until next time, this is Rvel Zahid signing off on behalf of S Sudarshanan and our scoring master Thilak Rama. Goodbye and keep enjoying the great game of cricket!

Dasun Shanaka, Sri Lanka Captain: "See coming for the qualifiers. It's always tough but still, if you go through the process...and we know with the team we got, we are going to qualify for the World Cup. Credit to the other teams; they played really well in the tournament. Some other teams gave us some good fights but still, we are the better side. To be honest, these bunch of players, they have got their own skill, and they utilized the conditions really well over here. We stick to our basics whatever the condition, whatever the situation is. We want to play the hardest as much as we can. That is what's important. Not going to take it lightly against West Indies, so we are going to give our maximum over there as well. It's a big achievement (to qualify for the World Cup) but still, you know what we have done in the past in World Cups...we hold the 1996 World Cup, runners-up in 2011 and we have been playing amazing cricket in the World Cups. So it was a much-needed thing for Sri Lanka to play on that big stage. World Cup ahead is the main focus and main target for us. So we are waiting to deliver there as well."

Craig Ervine, Zimbabwe Captain: "Those first three wickets put us on the back foot. I think that the partnership between Raza and Williams got us slowly back into the game, and then he (Theekshana) came on...unfortunately, we couldn't recover from that collapse in the middle order. Look, I don't think we need to prepare any differently from what we have been doing in this tournament (against Scotland). We have been playing some very good cricket. Sri Lanka were much better than us today."

Maheesh Theekshana, Player of the Match: "We had made good plans. I just bowled wicket to wicket. Because we lost Lahiru, I knew I had to bowl in the power play. Madushanka got us three wickets and Sean was batting brilliantly but when I came on, I didn't allow them to settle down. I was able to execute my plans. Actually, this win boosts our confidence, we knew how good we are and our plan was to win all games."

Theekshana was miserly once again and didn't let Zimbabwe get off the hook after Madushanka's hostile opening burst that prised out three wickets in the powerplay; he had the new ball hooping around and offered no leeway to the openers. The match inexorably headed one way after a brilliant bowling performance from Sri Lanka and a pretty underwhelming show with the bat from the tournament's hosts. While Hasaranga was somewhat neutered by relentless sweeping, Theekshana continued to discombobulate the batters throughout his spell as the innings began to peter out and Zimbabwe were unable to shield their stumps. The move to dominate the spinners in the middle overs backfired. They could have given themselves a good chance by batting through the fifty overs but they threw the caution to the wind against Theekshana - who was breathing fire, hitting the right areas with unbelievable accuracy and extracting spin and bounce on this tricky pitch. It turned out to be a proper thrashing in the end that Zimbabwe didn't face before this game as they had been fiercely competitive in this tournament. They will go back to the drawing board and work on devising more effective strategies against potent bowling line-ups like the one they faced today.

33.1
4
Masakadza to Nissanka, FOUR, Full toss is sweet music to Nissanka who wallops it over midwicket and scores a sublime century as well as gets his team over the line comprehensively as Sri Lanka trounce Zimbabwe by nine wickets and book their spot in World Cup in India!

Ankur Saxena: "Masakadza was in no mood to see Nissanka reach his 100.Nissanka I thought read his mind the next ball."

Yasindu: "32 or 16 Teams should compete in the main event. How is it a "World Cup" if it's played between 10 nations when there are 200 nations in the "World"?"

Damian : "1996 WC champions and 2007 and 2011 WC runners up book their place in 2023 WC where SL belong.Take my word today. SL will be in the last 4 of the 2023 WC ."

33.1
1w
Masakadza to Nissanka, 1 wide, Half-tracker and lands it outside the tramlines on off, scores are level

END OF OVER:
33 | 1 Run | SL: 164/1 (2 runs required from 17 overs, RR: 4.96, RRR: 0.11)

  • Kusal Mendis25 (42b)
  • Pathum Nissanka97 (101b)
  • Sikandar Raza7-0-27-0
  • Wellington Masakadza5-0-24-0

Adrian Meredith: "The margin of this victory will help Scotland. Surely now it's a straight result that's needed between Scotland and Zimbabwe. The winner qualifies"

32.6
0
Sikandar Raza to Mendis, no run, Quicker delivery on a length outside off, smothers the spin with a firm block off the backfoot into the off side
32.5
0
Sikandar Raza to Mendis, no run, Looped up on a fuller length, angling towards middle, jams his bat down and defends hurriedly
32.4
1
Sikandar Raza to Nissanka, 1 run, Goes back, splayed his front foot out and muscles it down to midwicket for a run
32.3
0
Sikandar Raza to Nissanka, no run, That's audacious! Inverses his stance and tried to club it over point, didn't time it that well

ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier

Super Six
TeamMWLPTNRR
SL33060.91
NED32140.662
SCOT32140.215
WI3122-0.091
ZIM3122-0.748
OMA3030-1.087
Group A
TeamMWLPTNRR
ZIM44082.241
NED43160.669
WI42240.525
NEP4132-1.171
USA4040-2.164
Group B
TeamMWLPTNRR
SL44083.047
SCOT43160.54
OMA4224-1.221
IRE4132-0.061
UAE4040-2.249