WATCH: Sri Lanka joins Chevrons with four points in the Super Six

SRI Lanka will be the second team in the 2023 Men’s Cricket World Cup Qualifiers to progress to the Super Six stage with four points after winning their last group match against Scotland by 82 runs at Queens Sports Club yesterday.

Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe will be the only teams starting with four points after winning all their group matches.

Yesterday’s match was a top of the table encounter and the win meant that Scotland will have to settle for second spot in Group B and go into the Super Six with two matches.

After they were sent to bat first, Sri Lanka looked to have had challenges with the bat for the first time in the tournament. They however managed to score 245 all out in 49,3 overs before their bowlers went on to show their skill by restricting Scotland to 163 runs all out in just 29 overs.

After losing two of their top order batters in quick succession, Pathum Nissanka stepped up with the bat for Sri Lanka as he top scored with 75 runs from 85 deliveries. Charith Asalanka, in the middle order, also managed to get a half century, scoring 63 runs from 65 balls while Sadeera Samarawickrama was the fourth leading run scorer with 26 runs from 35 balls.

Chris Greaves was the star with the ball for Scotland, finishing with figures of 4/32 in 6,3 overs while Mark Watt finished with figures of 3/52 in his 10 over spell. Chris Sole took two wickets in 10 overs as well as Scotland bowlers put up a brilliant performance.

In the match’s second innings, Maheesh Theekshana finished with the best bowling figures for Sri Lanka, taking three wickets for 41 runs in 10 overs while the red hot Wanindu Hasaranga took two scalps, to move his wicket tally in the tournament to 18 wickets in four matches.

Scotland saw themselves losing early wickets once again, with two of their top order batters falling to reach double figures. Greaves stood out with the bat once again scoring a gallant half century. He finished unbeaten on 56 runs from 41 balls while Christopher McBride chipped in with 29 runs from 38 balls.

The match rounded up Group B matches and at Bulawayo Athletic Club (BAC), Ireland managed to close off their group encounters on a high note, registering a 138 runs win over the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Ireland scored 349/4 in 50 courtesy of a Paul Stirling 162 runs and they went on to bowl out UAE for just 211 runs in 39 overs. Ireland and UAE both failed to make it to the Super Six and their World Cup hopes went up in smoke.

Group B teams that managed to reach the Super Six stage are Sri Lanka, Scotland and Oman. The Super Six stage starts tomorrow and the hosts, Zimbabwe will be in action against Oman at Queens Sports Club. — @brandon_malvin