Nepal, Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe impress in final CWC Qualifier warm-up matches
The 10 teams set to face off in the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup Qualifier 2023 in Zimbabwe fine-tuned for the high-stakes tournament with a second round of warm-up matches.
The Netherlands clung on to win a low-scoring encounter against Ireland thanks in large part to the outstanding Wesley Barresi.
The first innings saw Lorcan Tucker hit his second half-century of the warm-up matches to rescue Ireland after a flurry of early wickets.
Helpful early bowling conditions, which could be a trend throughout the next few weeks, saw Ireland slip to 58/5.
But the resolute Tucker held the innings together with a fine 90-ball 74, while Gareth Delany’s quickfire 46 from 25 and Graham Hune’s 34-ball 30 helped the Irish to 193 all out in 39.2 overs.
Six of the seven Dutch bowlers picked up wickets, with Logan van Beek (2/23 from seven) and Clayton Floyd (2/36 from nine) the stand-outs.
And in reply Netherlands looked in complete control on 94/1 before slipping to 114/6 and leaving the match hanging in the balance.
Barresi’s outstanding 90 did much of the work, and a gritty 65-ball 30 low down the order by Shariz Ahmad took the Dutch to the cusp of victory.
And they reached their total with two wickets remaining, with star bowler Ben White (5/61) the pick of the Irish attack.
Nepal pulled off a stunning win over Oman in Harare, chasing down 267 with wickets to spare.
An outstanding century from Oman captain Zeeshan Maqsood had helped his side to a decent first-inning score of 267 all out, with the final wicket falling with four balls of the innings remaining.
But Kushal Bhurtel’s brilliant century at the top of the order led the charge for Nepal in reply, with the opener retiring after reaching triple figures.
All of Nepal’s top six reached double figures, with Bhim Sharki the next-highest scorer with 56.
And, as wickets fell in a flurry with the target almost within reach, Lamichhane Sandeep made the result safe with a six off his first ball faced.
Aqib Ilyas was the pick of the Oman bowlers, finishing with figures of 4/42 from 7.5 overs.
Nepal had been hopeful of restricting the first-innings target significantly when they ran through Oman’s top order at the start of the day, having them 7/4 after 6.2 overs.
But the outstanding Maqsood led the fightback with his outstanding 109 from 106 balls, and was aided by decent contributions from Shoaib Khan (38) and Ayaan Khan (56).
Sompal Kami was the star with the ball for Nepal, taking 5/57, including three of those four early wickets and the scalp of Maqsood. Lamichhane bagged 3/66, while KC Karan and JC Pratish also picked up wickets.
The tournament hosts crushed Scotland in a dominant display in Harare
Zimbabwe’s bowlers kept Scotland tied down throughout their first innings, limiting the score to 163 all out.
Wellington Masakadza, Luke Jongwe and Sean Williams all took braces of wickets, with Tendai Chatara, Brad Evans, Ryan Burl and Sikandar Raza all taking one apiece.
Matthew Cross and Brandon McMullen got Scotland off to a reasonable start before the wickets tumbled, with Jack Jarvis and Chris McBride the only other batters to reach double figures when they came in at eight and nine respectively.
And Zimbabwe made easy work of their chase, reaching the target in just under half the allotted overs, finishing on 166/4 in 24.5.
Rovman Powell hit an outstanding 55-ball 105 as West Indies racked up 374 against UAE at Takashinga Cricket Club.
UAE had got themselves into a decent position by restricting the score to 198/7 after 32 overs, despite most of the West Indies batters making starts and Nicholas Pooran hitting a fine 74.
But an electric 139-run partnership between Powell and K Paul (54 from 50) saw runs flow in the final 18 overs.
Abundance of confidence in the West Indies camp as they head to the @cricketworldcup Qualifier.
— ICC (@ICC) June 13, 2023
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And such a target was always likely to be out of UAE’s reach.
They gave it a good shot though, with Vriitya Aravind digging in for an excellent 54 from number three, and Basil Hameed lighting the innings up with an unbeaten 108-ball 122* to lift his side to 260/9 in their reply.
Qualification favourites Sri Lanka put USA to the sword, racking up a formidable 379 in Bulawayo before running through the American batting line-up.
Kusal Mendis and Dimuth Karunaratne scored outstanding centuries, with the latter retiring on 111 and Mendis dismissed for 105.
And quickfire efforts from Charith Asalanka and Dasun Shanaka boosted the score as runs flowed late in the innings, with Asalanka’s 62* coming off 37 balls and captain Shanaka hitting a 30-ball 61*.
It was the fiery Matheesha Pathirana who stood out with the ball, taking 4/23 to help bowl USA out for 174.
Kasun Rajitha 2/28 and Wanindu Hasaranga 2/32 also proved tricky for the USA batters to deal with, with only captain Monank Patel 68 and Shayan Jahangir 63 not out among the runs as the reply ended in 33.2 overs.