Formidable Sri Lanka sink Ireland; Oman crumble against Scotland: CWC23 Qualifier - Day 8 wrap

Sri Lanka and Scotland followed imperious batting performances with disciplined bowling displays to win their respective encounters.

Sri Lanka vs Ireland scorecard

Sri Lanka outshined Ireland in all three departments. With this result, Sri Lanka make it to Super Six stage of the Qualifier while Ireland are out of the World Cup race.

Despite early fall of openers Paul Stirling (6) and Andy McBrine (17), Ireland tried to keep with the asking rate and finished their first powerplay at 56/2.

Wanindu Hasaranga, Sri Lanka's premier performer with ball in the Qualifier, struck in his very first over to remove the Ireland skipper, Andrew Balbirnie. Dasun Shanaka followed this up with the wicket of Lorcan Tucker, and the Ireland chase was in peril.

Hasaranga equals Pakistan great for ODI bowling record

Harry Tector (33) and Curtis Campher (39) provided last hope to Ireland but their dismissals by the 20-over mark left the Men in Green on the verge of a massive defeat. Ireland's tail took the aggressive route but couldn't survive the guile of Hasaranga who finished with 5/79.

This was his third consecutive five-wicket haul in ODIs. With this, Hasaranga equals the world record for most consecutive five-fors in Men's ODIs with Waqar Younis.

Sri Lanka hit the accelerator early on, and didn't let up the pressure against Ireland. This was their second score in excess of 300 in the tournament.

Positive batting from Pathum Nissanka and Dimuth Karunaratne helped Sri Lanka get off to a flyer. The duo went run-a-ball for their stand of 48 before Nissanka fell to a mistimed pull against the incoming Barry McCarthy. The very next ball, McCarthy got one to angle in and trapped Kusal Mendis lbw for a duck. Sri Lanka were 58 for two at the end of first powerplay.

Sadeera Samarawickrama and Karunaratne kept their foot on the pedal as Sri Lanka's scoring rate went above six runs an over. Karunaratne brought up his fifty during this stand. This was his third consecutive half-century in the tournament.

Samarawickrama brought up a half-century of his own in the 22nd over, even as the duo brought up their century stand of merely 90 balls.

Karunaratne-Samarawickrama continued going great guns after the 25-over mark, even as Ireland didn't help their case with poor work in the field, including a couple of dropped catches. By the time, Gareth Delany had accounted for Samarawickrama (82) in the 36th over, Sri Lanka were 216/3. Karunaratne brought up his maiden ODI century in the very next over, but couldn't continue for long. He was cleaned up by Mark Adair for 103.

Charith Asalanka (38) and Dhananjaya de Silva (42*) played important knocks towards the end, but Sri Lanka's tail failed to wag. They fell way short of 350, which seemed like a strong possibility while Karunaratne and Samarawickrama were at the crease.

Andrew Balbirnie called it right at the toss and bowled first at the Queens Sports Club in a must-win match to keep their dreams of India 2023 alive.

In team news, Ireland leg-spinner Ben White pulled out of today's match after an injury in the warm-up, and was replaced by Barry McCarthy. Sri Lanka opted for the same side which beat Oman by 10 wickets.

Scotland vs Oman scorecard

Ireland's defeat to Sri Lanka at Queen Sports Club ensured that both Oman and Scotland make it to the Super Six. But Scotland will also have the added advantage of carrying two points from today's win over Oman to the next stage.

CWC23 Qualifier standings

Oman got off to a slow start, with Kashyap Prajapati and Jatinder Singh adding merely 25 runs in the first 10 overs. The pent-up pressure led to Prajapati's fall in the 11th over when centurion McMullen cleaned him up. Soon after, Jatinder (14) also fell to Adrian Neil.

Zeeshan Maqsood and Aqib Ilyas then held the innings together with a 32-run stand, before Maqsood went for a slog sweep and was bowled by Michael Leask. One brought two as Aqib Ilyas was accounted for by Mark Watt in the very next over.

A resilient stand for the fifth wicket between Mohammad Nadeem and Ayaan Khan added 30 runs. With Nadeem's fall in the 30th over, Oman had lost half their side and needed almost 11 runs an over to win the game.

An enterprising seventh-wicket partnership of 105 between Naseem Khushi (69) and Shoaib Khan (36) brought some entertainment to the proceedings late in the day, but by then Scotland's grasp over the encounter was complete. Chris Greaves (5/53) picked his maiden five-for during this innings.

Earlier in the day, Scotland overcame a jittery start to post a challenging total against Oman.

Bilal Khan gave Oman the perfect start when he trapped Christopher McBride lbw off the very third ball of the game. Scotland found the going tough against a disciplined new-ball effort from the Gulf side, and could muster merely two runs off their first four overs.

Matthew Cross and Brandon McMullen gradually settled in and picked up the scoring rate. The duo added 82 runs and McMullen brought up his half-century, comprising of four fours and three sixes, during the stand.

In the 19th over, Jay Odedra finally brought a breakthrough for Oman when he got Cross (27) to play on a delivery. Skipper Richie Berrington then joined hands with McMullen and steadied the innings. With time, Berrington grew comfortable at the wicket, while McMullen continued at a swift pace. The latter brought up his maiden ODI century in the 32nd over. The pair added 100 runs off merely 97 balls.

After McMullen's ton, Scotland batted with extra urgency, adding 58 runs in overs 33-38. Berrington brought up his 17th ODI fifty in this period.

The Scotland captain was finally run out in the 39th over when trying to take a run off a misfield. A few overs later, McMullen (136) also fell to Bilal while trying to up the scoring rate. A couple of more strikes by Bilal pegged the Scottish innings back. But crucial contributions from Tomas Mackintosh (32) and Mark Watt (25) late in the game helped the European side cross 300. Bilal was the pick of Oman bowlers and finished at 5/55.

Earlier, Oman won the toss and elected to bowl against Scotland. Richie Berrington's men boast a 4-1 winning record in six ODIs across League 2 (one no result).

Zeeshan Maqsood confirmed that the Omanis come in with an unchanged side despite their heavy defeat to Sri Lanka, while Scotland opted to include fast bowler Adrian Neill. George Munsey sat out of the game with a stomach bug.