CWC Qualifiers, Sri Lanka too good for sorry Ireland: Stats
Sri Lanka humbled Ireland to register their third consecutive win in the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifiers in Bulawayo. The Lankan Lions defeated their Irish counterparts by 133 runs to progress to the Super Six of the qualifying event. SL batted first and posted a fine total of 325 and their bowlers did a brilliant job to restrict the Irishmen. Here's more.
How did the match pan out?
Ireland invited SL to bat first and the Lankan openers added 48 runs. However, they did lose two crucial wickets, Dimuth Karunaratne (103) and Sadeera Samawickrama (82) steadied the ship by adding 162 runs. Ultimately SL posted 325, while Mark Adair finished with 4/46. In reply, Ireland could only manage 192 as Wanindu Hasaranga scalped another five-wicket haul.
Karunaratne smashes his maiden ODI century
Karunaratne continued his purple patch as he slammed his fifth successive fifty-plus score in ODIs. He stitched a solid 168-run partnership with Samarawickrama to take SL beyond the 200-run mark. He became the fifth SL batter to score five successive 50-plus ODI scores. The 35-year-old has now raced to 1,095 runs in 40 games as his average in the format reads 34.21.
Samarawickrama registers his highest ODI score
Samarawickrama played a very crucial hand along with Karunaratne after SL lost two wickets in quick succession. He ended up scoring 82 off 86 deliveries and registered his third ODI fifty. Samarawickrama has scored 337 runs in 12 ODIs at an average of 33.7. His previous fifty came in the preceding clash against the UAE. He scored 73 off 64 balls.
Adair claims his fourth ODI four-fer
Adair was brilliant during the slog overs as he varied his pace and outfoxed the batters. He finished with figures of 4/46. Adair also completed 50 ODI wickets as he became the 10th Irishman to achieve that landmark. The Irish pacer dismissed Karunaratne, Hasaranga, Maheesh Theekshana, and Lahiru Kumara. The last three wickets were dismissed in the last three overs of the innings.
Hasaranga claims his third successive fifer in ODIs
Hasaranga was exceptional once again as he finished with figures of 5/79 in his allotted 10 overs. He became the second bowler to claim three consecutive fifers in ODIs. Before him, only Waqar Younis had completed that feat. Hasaranga raced to 61 wickets in 44 ODIs at 28.85. He also scalped 22 wickets in five consecutive ODIs, the most by any bowler.
Sri Lanka atop Group B, Ireland out of contention
This was SL's third win in the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifiers in Zimbabwe. Earlier they defeated the UAE and Oman very convincingly. However, Ireland are out of the Super Six race as they have lost all of their first three matches in the qualifiers.
