Sri Lanka crowned champions of ICC World Cup Qualifier 2023 as they defeated the Netherlands by 128 runs in the final of the tournament played today (09th July) at Harare Sports Club in Bulawayo.
The Netherlands skipper Scott Edwards won the toss and invited Sri Lanka to take the first lease of the wicket at Harare.
Sri Lanka had to make a forced change to their playing XI with in-form opening batter Dimuth Karunaratne missing out the final due to an injury. Wanindu Hasaranga and Dhananjaya de Silva who were rested in their last game against West Indies, returned to the side strengthening the playing XI.
Sri Lanka (Playing XI): Pathum Nissanka, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Kusal Mendis(w), Dhananjaya de Silva, Charith Asalanka, Sahan Arachchige, Dasun Shanaka(c), Wanindu Hasaranga, Maheesh Theekshana, Matheesha Pathirana, Dilshan Madushanka
Netherlands (Playing XI): Vikramjit Singh, Max ODowd, Wesley Barresi, Noah Croes, Teja Nidamanuru, Scott Edwards(w/c), Saqib Zulfiqar, Logan van Beek, Ryan Klein, Aryan Dutt, Clayton Floyd
Nissanka and Samarawickrama opened the batting for Sri Lanka and managed to provide a decent start to the innings by adding 39-run stand for the first wicket. The right arm medium pacer Singh struck twice in two consecutive overs to remove both opening batters to push Sri Lanka onto the backfoot.
Mendis and Arachchige revived Sri Lanka’s innings building a 72-run crucial stand for the third wicket before the former was trapped in front by the wrist spinner Zulfiqar for 43 runs.
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Arachchige went onto score his maiden half-century in ODIs but with the fall of his wicket, Sri Lanka witnessed a bizarre phase of play as they lost 7 wickets for just 53 runs.
Sri Lanka finished well below par than expected after a good start to the innings with a modest score of 233. The Dutch bowlers showcased a solid bowling performance led by van Beek and Klein. Singh and Zulfiqar also chipped in with a couple of wickets each as well.
Sri Lanka started brilliantly with the ball as the speedster Madushanka found some swing up front to dismiss three Dutch top order wickets. From the other end, Hasaranga followed up from where he left off, striking with his very first ball of the innings.
The Dutch batters were all at sea playing against Sri Lankan spin duo Hasaranga and Theekshana again. Van Beek steadied the ship with O’Dowd, until the latter was bowled by Theekshana for 33 runs.
Theekshana returned for a second spell and cleaned up the tail to seal a comfortable 128-run win and the tournament title for Sri Lanka.
Result
| Batsmen | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pathum Nissanka | c Aryan Dutt b Vikramjit Singh | 23 | 33 | 3 | 0 | 69.70 |
| Sadeera Samarawickrama | c Noah Croes b Vikramjit Singh | 19 | 23 | 4 | 0 | 82.61 |
| Kusal Mendis | lbw b Saqib Zulfiqar | 43 | 52 | 5 | 1 | 82.69 |
| Sahan Arachchige | c Logan van Beek b Saqib Zulfiqar | 57 | 71 | 4 | 0 | 80.28 |
| Charith Asalanka | run out (Logan van Beek) | 36 | 36 | 4 | 0 | 100.00 |
| Dhananjaya de Silva | b Ryan Klein | 4 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 50.00 |
| Dasun Shanaka | c Vikramjit Singh b Logan van Beek | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 50.00 |
| Wanindu Hasaranga | c Max O’Dowd b Ryan Klein | 29 | 21 | 2 | 1 | 138.10 |
| Mahesh Theekshana | st Scott Edwards b Aryan Dutt | 13 | 30 | 0 | 0 | 43.33 |
| Matheesha Pathirana | c Noah Croes b Logan van Beek | 4 | 11 | 1 | 0 | 36.36 |
| Dilshan Madushanka | not out | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Extras | 4 (b 0 , lb 1 , nb 0, w 3, pen 0) |
| Total | 233/10 (47.5 Overs, RR: 4.87) |
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Logan van Beek | 10 | 0 | 40 | 2 | 4.00 | |
| Ryan Klein | 9 | 1 | 42 | 2 | 4.67 | |
| Aryan Dutt | 9.5 | 0 | 51 | 1 | 5.37 | |
| Vikramjit Singh | 4 | 0 | 12 | 2 | 3.00 | |
| Clayton Floyd | 5 | 0 | 28 | 0 | 5.60 | |
| Saqib Zulfiqar | 10 | 1 | 59 | 2 | 5.90 | |
| Batsmen | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vikramjit Singh | c Charith Asalanka b Dilshan Madushanka | 13 | 14 | 3 | 0 | 92.86 |
| Max O’Dowd | b Mahesh Theekshana | 33 | 63 | 1 | 1 | 52.38 |
| Wesley Barresi | b Dilshan Madushanka | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Teja Nidamanuru | lbw b Wanindu Hasaranga | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Noah Croes | lbw b Dilshan Madushanka | 7 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 116.67 |
| Scott Edwards | run out (Kusal Mendis) | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 33.33 |
| Saqib Zulfiqar | lbw b Wanindu Hasaranga | 6 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 85.71 |
| Logan van Beek | not out | 20 | 24 | 1 | 0 | 83.33 |
| Ryan Klein | lbw b Mahesh Theekshana | 2 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 28.57 |
| Aryan Dutt | lbw b Mahesh Theekshana | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Clayton Floyd | lbw b Mahesh Theekshana | 9 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 128.57 |
| Extras | 14 (b 4 , lb 1 , nb 0, w 9, pen 0) |
| Total | 105/10 (23.3 Overs, RR: 4.47) |
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dilshan Madushanka | 7 | 1 | 18 | 3 | 2.57 | |
| Mahesh Theekshana | 6.3 | 1 | 31 | 4 | 4.92 | |
| Wanindu Hasaranga | 7 | 1 | 35 | 2 | 5.00 | |
| Matheesha Pathirana | 3 | 0 | 16 | 0 | 5.33 | |
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