Hasaranga finished with 6/24 in his eight overs – completing 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.
Sri Lanka secured a comfortable victory against the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in the third match of the ICC ODI World Cup Qualifier in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe on Monday. Led by Wanindu Hasaranga’s exceptional performance, Sri Lanka won by a commanding margin of 175 runs.
Hasaranga played a crucial role, taking six wickets for just 24 runs in his eight overs, achieving his first ODI five-wicket haul and reaching 50 ODI wickets in the process. He also contributed with the bat, scoring 23 runs off 12 balls.
Chasing a target of 356, the UAE team fell short and were bowled out for 180 runs in 39 overs. None of their batsmen managed to surpass the 40-run mark, with the highest score of 39 coming from opener and captain Muhammad Waseem and wicketkeeper Vriitya Arvind.
Sri Lanka’s bowlers dominated the game, continuously taking wickets and preventing their opponents from gaining momentum. Lahiru Kumara dismissed Rohan Mustafa in the early stages of the run chase, and the UAE struggled to recover from there.
Earlier, Sri Lanka had a strong start to their innings, thanks to solid contributions from Dimuth Karunaratne (52 off 54 balls) and Pathum Nissanka (57 off 76 balls), who put together a 95-run partnership for the first wicket in 17 overs.
All of Sri Lanka’s top four batsmen scored half-centuries, with Kusal Mendis leading the charge with 78 runs off 63 balls. Sadeera Samarawickrama provided excellent support with his innings of 73 runs off 64 balls. Charith Asalanka finished the innings with a quickfire 48 runs off just 23 balls, including two sixes and five fours. Sri Lanka posted a formidable total of 355/6.
Ali Naseer was the most successful bowler for the UAE, picking up two wickets.
In their next matches, Sri Lanka will face Oman on June 23, while the UAE will play against Oman on June 21.
Brief Score: Sri Lanka 355 for 6 (Mendis 78, Samarawickrama 73, Naseer 2-44) beat UAE 180 (Waseem 39, Aravind 39, Hasaranga 6-24) by 175 runs.
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