Daily Times

BULAWAYO: Wanindu Hasaranga’s six-wicket haul helped Sri Lanka defeat United Arab Emirates (UAE) by 175 runs in the third match of the ICC ODI World Cup Qualifier played in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe on Monday. Hasaranga finished with 6-24 in his eight overs – completing his first ODI fifer and 50 ODI wickets in between — and also scored 23 off 12 balls as Sri Lanka began its journey to World Cup qualification with a comfortable win. Chasing a target of 356, UAE got bowled out for 180 in 39 overs with none of the batters crossing 40-run mark, the highest being 39 by opening batter and captain Muhammad Waseem and wicketkeeper Vriitya Arvind. Lahiru Kumara picked up Rohan Mustafa in the sixth over of the run chase. Since then, UAE kept losing wickets regularly as Sri Lankan bowlers didn’t let their opponent get into the game at any point.

Earlier, Sri Lanka, put into bat, had a solid start provided by Dimuth Karunaratne (52 off 54 balls) and Pathum Nissanka (57 off 76), who scored 95 runs for the first wicket in 17 overs. All the top four batters for the Lions scored half-centuries with Kusal Mendis top-scoring with 78 off 63 balls followed by Sadeera Samarawickrama’s 73 off 64 balls. Charith Asalanka provided the finish with his 48 in 23 balls that included two sixes and five fours as Sri Lanka finished at 355/6. For UAE, Ali Naseer picked two wickets. Sri Lanka will next meet Oman on June 23 while UAE will play Oman on June 21.