A brilliant four-wicket haul from spinner Mahesh Thikshana and a remarkable century from Pathum Nissanka powered Sri Lanka to an emphatic eight-wicket win over West Indies in the Super Six stage match of the Men’s Cricket World Cup Qualifier 2023. The match took place at the Harare Sports Club. Friday. Openers Pathum Nissanka (104) and Dimuth Karunaratne (83) played a key role in West Indies’ chase of 243. Casey Carty’s resilient innings of 87 took West Indies to a respectable total.
Brilliant four wickets
Mahesh Thikshana is @ramco #POTM For his bowling performance against West Indies _#cwc23 #SLVWI pic.twitter.com/7od9X5HJDe– ICC (@ICC) 7 July 2023
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The win ensures Sri Lanka maintain an unbeaten record in the qualifiers and enter the final as favorites against the Netherlands, which is to be held on Sunday. Both Sri Lanka and Netherlands have already secured their places in the Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 to be held in India next October. However, neither team would want to end their time in Zimbabwe with a loss.
Chasing a target of 244, Sri Lanka got off to a bright start with Nissanka and Dimuth Karunaratne putting on a fine 190-run stand for the first wicket, which effectively sealed the game for Sri Lanka. Kusal Mendis (34) and Sadeera Samarawickrama (17) chased down the target of 244 with impressive contributions from Nissanka and Karunaratne. Earlier, it was Mahesh Thikshana (4/34) who dismantled the West Indies top-order to a great extent.
Put in to bat first, West Indies made a strong start scoring 31 runs in the first four overs. However, Thikshana’s exceptional bowling performance halted their momentum by conceding only two runs in his first over and dismissing Brandon King (10) in his second. The spinner continued his fine form by taking two more wickets in a row, dismissing Shamar Brooks (2) and skipper Shai Hope (2).
Opener Johnson Charles (39) was the next to be lbw to Mathisha Pathirana, leaving the West Indies struggling at 62 for four. Casey Carty (87) and Nicholas Pooran (14) then made a comeback and stopped the fall of wickets until Pooran was dismissed by Dushan Hemantha. Late contributions from Romario Shepherd (26) and Kevin Sinclair (25) took the West Indies to a total of 243 before Carty was eventually dismissed.
In reply, Sri Lanka started the chase aggressively and reached the 50-run mark within nine overs. Nissanka completed his half-century in the 16th over and achieved this feat in as many balls. Opening partner Karunaratne also brought up his half-century as Sri Lanka cruised towards their target with ease. Despite the West Indies’ attempts to break the partnership by rotating six bowlers, Nissanka and Karunaratne stood firm and shared a 150-run partnership in the 28th over.
With about 20 overs remaining, Nissanka finally reached his century but was dismissed by Kevin Sinclair. Although Sri Lanka continued to score freely, Mendis took charge and brought up his 200 with a four. Karunaratne was lbw to Akil Hossain, but Mendis and Samarawickrama powered Sri Lanka to victory with 34 balls to spare, maintaining their unbeaten record in the tournament and a place in the final.
Brief scores: West Indies all out for 243 in 48.1 overs (Kissi Carty 87, Johnson Charles 39; Mahesh Thikshana 4/34) lose to Sri Lanka 244/2 in 44.2 overs (Pathum Nissanka 104, Dimuth Karunaratne 83; Kevin Sinclair 1 /52) ) by 8 wickets.