23 June 2023 04:28 pm Views - 1225
Wanindu Hasaranga's second consecutive five-wicket haul set Sri Lanka up for a comfortable 10-wicket win over Oman in their ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier in Bulawayo.
Chasing a small target of 99, openers Dimuth Karunaratne and Pathum Nissanka shepherded Sri Lanka to victory with ease, the former scoring 61 in 51 deliveries and latter 37 off 39.
Earlier, Hasaranga took 5 for 13 to help bowl Oman out for 98.
Hasaranga ran through the Omani middle and lower order, after Lahiru Kumara had made inroads earlier in the innings.
An exceptional opening 10 overs from Kumara and Kasun Rajitha reduced Oman to 21 for 4 -- Kumara's pace and bounce proving a challenge for the Omani batsmen.
Kumara needed just four deliveries to pick up his first wicket with Kashyap Prajapati beaten for pace and adjudged out leg before wicket in the second over of the innings.
Three overs later, Kasun Rajitha induced an outside edge from Aqib Ilyas, with the catch collected by the fielder in the fifth slip region.
Omani captain Zeeshan Maqsood was then dismissed in the eighth over when extra bounce from Kumara rushed Masqood into looping a catch to square leg.
Kumara then returned for a fifth over, with the short ball doing the trick again, with a top edge from Mohammed Nadeem well caught by Karunaratne at square leg.
A fightback over the next ten overs between Jatinder Singh and Aayen Khan resulted in a 52-run partnership, giving Oman a glimmer of hope.
But it took a single Wanindu Hasaranga over to completely unsettle the Omanis again, with the wrist-spinner taking three wickets in the 21st over to derail Oman to 72 for 7.
Naseem Khushi was run out after Oman had added 10 more runs, before Hasaranga ended the resilient innings of Ayaan Khan for 41, caught by Dhananjaya de Silva in the slips.
Hasaranga wrapped up the innings in his eighth over, when he had Bilal Khan lbw for a duck, with Omani's last six wickets falling for just 26 runs.