Harare/Bulawayo: Former World Champions West Indies and Sri Lanka and hosts Zimbabwe went won both their warm-up matches ahead of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 Qualifier tournament with comfortable victories over the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Scotland and the USA respectively.
Netherlands and Nepal will also enter the group stages on the back of victories, with the Netherlands overcoming Ireland while Nepal beat Oman.
Powell powers West Indies to win
Rovman Powell’s rapid century helped the West Indies regain composure after they slipped to 198-7 midway through their innings against UAE.
Nicholas Pooran’s 74 had helped the Windies to a commanding position before three wickets in nine balls saw his side stutter.
But Powell combined with Keemo Paul to put on 139 for the eighth wicket, the former eventually dismissed for 105 from just 55 balls as the Windies posted 374 for nine, the ICC informed in a report on its website.
The UAE had a centurion of their own in the form of Basil Hameed, who batted valiantly to reach 122 not out as his side fell 114 runs short.
Yannic Cariah was again the star of the West Indies attack as he took four for 58 to back up his four-wicket haul in the first warm-up game.
Dominant Zimbabwe score Scotland victory
Brandon McMullen fell one run short of a half-century as Scotland were bowled out for 163 having been put into bat by hosts Zimbabwe.
The right-hander put on an innings-high partnership of 47 runs with Matthew Cross for the second wicket before the latter was bowled by Brad Evans for 32.
McMullen was unable to build another partnership before he was dismissed by Ryan Burl for 49, with late cameos from Jack Jarvis (26) and Christopher McBride (20) pushing Scotland past 150.
In response, Zimbabwe chased the modest total down inside 25 overs with six wickets to spare.
Sikandar Raza top scored with 44 from 28 balls while Joylord Gumbie and Craig Ervine both made 37, with Micheal Leask’s two quick wickets only providing temporary resistance.
Karunaratne sets up Sri Lanka’s big win
Dimuth Karunaratne made a sparkling century as Sri Lanka posted 392 for five from their 50 overs against the USA.
Karunaratne was joined at the crease by Kusal Mendis in the seventh over with Sri Lanka 39 for one before the pair combined for a 191-run partnership to power the Lions to a huge total. Mendis departed for 105 from 91 before Karunaratne retired not out on 111 from 100 balls to leave time for strong middle-order striking from Charith Asalanka and Dasun Shanaka, who added 112 for the fifth wicket.
After losing both openers for just 10 runs to begin their response, the USA rebuilt through Monank Patel who scored 68 before becoming one of three wickets in an over for Matheesha Pathirana to leave the USA on 106 for seven. Shayan Jahangir was left stranded on 63 not out as Usman Rafiq was run out with the USA falling 198 runs short.
Barresi guides Netherlands to win
Ireland were bowled out for 193 in the 40th over with Harry Tector, who made a century against the USA earlier in the week, one of seven players to score single figures against the Netherlands as Scott Edward’s side shared the wickets around. Lorcan Tucker rebuilt from 58/5 in the 20th over, helped by a quickfire 46 from 25 balls from Gareth Delany, who became Shariz Ahmad’s second wicket. Tucker was stumped by Edwards for 74 off the bowling of Clayton Floyd before Craig Young fell three balls later to Saqib Zulfiqar to bring Ireland’s innings to a premature close.
Wesley Barresi’s 90 helped see the Netherlands home, with Barresi and Max O’Dowd putting on 89 for the second wicket, though Ireland did not go down without a fight.
Three balls after O’Dowd departed, Noah Croes was also dismissed by Ben White, who returned figures of five for 61 as Ireland reduced the Netherlands to 114 for six in the 19th over. Barresi was dismissed 10 runs short of a century but Aryan Dutt and Logan van Beek calmly knocked off the remaining runs to see the Netherlands home by two wickets.
Scores in brief:
In Harare: West Indies 374/9 in 50 overs (Rovman Powell 105, Nicholas Pooran 74; Muhammad Jawadullah 3-50, Karthik Meiyappan 2-51) beat UAE 260/9 in 50 overs (Basil Hameed 122 not out, Vriitya Aravind 54; Yannic Cariah 4-58, Jason Holder 2-26) by 114 runs.
In Harare: Scotland 163 all out in 38.2 overs (Brandon McMullen 49, Matt Cross 32; Sean Williams 2-14, Luke Jongwe 2-17) lost to Zimbabwe 166/4 in 24.5 overs (Sikandar Raza 44, Joylord Gumbie 37; Michael Leask 2-30, Chris Greaves 1-24) by six wickets.
In Bulawayo: Sri Lanka 392/5 in 50 overs (Dimuth Karunaratne 111 not out, Kusal Mendis 105; Saurabh Netravalkar 2-60, Usman Rafiq 1-57) beat USA 194 all out in 33.2 overs (Monank Patel 68, Shayan Jahangir 63 not out; Matheesha Pathirana 4-23, Kasun Rajitha 2-28) by 198 runs.
In Bulawayo: Ireland 193 all out in 39.2 overs (Lorcan Tucker 74, Gareth Delany 46; Logan van Beek 2-23, Aryan Dutt 2-27) lost to Netherlands 196/8 in 37.3 overs (Wesley Barresi 90, Max O’Dowd 35; Ben White 5-61, Harry Tector 1-6) by two wickets.
In Harare: Oman 267 all out in 49.2 overs (Zeeshan Maqsood 109, Ayaan Khan 56; Sompal Kami 5-57, Sandeep Lamichhane 3-66) lost to Nepal 274/7 in 44.5 overs (Kushal Bhurtel 101 not out, Bhim Sharki 56; Aqib Ilyas 4-42, Fayyaz Butt 2-66) by three wickets.
