ICC World Cup 2023 Highlights: Sri Lanka beat Zimbabwe to qualify for WC in India

Dipendra Singh Airee's unbeaten 79-run knock off 84 balls helped Nepal beat UAE by three wickets. They will now face Ireland in seventh-place playoff while UAE will take on USA in ninth-place playoff.

Muhammad Jawadullah struck thrice as Nepal were reduced to 6 wickets for 102 runs in 28 overs. They still stand 80 runs away from the target.

“Coming into Qualifiers is always tough. But still if you go through the process, with the team we've got here, we know we're going to qualify. Credit to other teams, some of the teams gave us some good fight in between but still we are the better side.

It's a big achievement. What we have done in the past in World Cups, it's must needed for SL to appear on the big stage. World Cup ahead is the main focus for us. Waiting to deliver there as well.”

“We had some good plans. After the first ten overs, we didn't execute the plans well. I had a chat with Dasun and made some changes in the field-set. Because we lost Lahiru, I knew I was going to bowl with the new ball. Dilshan got us three wickets. Sikandar and Sean were batting brilliantly in that period, I knew we needed a wicket. Think I executed the plan and did well. Knew that we had to win all the games in this tournament. We still have two games left and have to win those too.”

Sri Lanka have become the 1st team from the Qualifiers tournament to make the 2023 World Cup. They beat Zimbabwe by 9 wickets to. The hosts will have one more chance on their part to join Sri Lanka in that flight when they face Scotland next week.  

A 54-run stand for the second wicket and an unbeaten 91 from Nissanka has taken Sri Lanka on the brink of qualification

Ngarava dismisses Karunaratne for 30 off 56 as Zimbabwe get a much-needed breakthrough. But it is still an improbable task for the hosts. Opener Nissanka still remains unbeaten on 65 with Sri Lanka needing 57 runs.

What a start it has been for Sri Lanka. At almost a run-a-ball rate, Pathum Nissanka completed his half-century in the 16th over. The opening partnership is now of 87 runs off 96 balls as Sri Lanka stand 79 runs away from a win.

Jawadullah struck earky with the new ball as he dismissed opener Arjun Saud for just 1 off 5. Nepal are now 22 for one in 6 overs.

Sri Lanka have made a confortable start to the chase with the openers - Pathum Nissanka and Dimuth Karunaratne - scoring a 50-run stand in just 11 overs. Sri Lanka are now 116 runs away from a win.

They will still remain part of the race to make it to India for the World Cup. Zimbabwe will have to beat Scotland in their last Super Six game. A loss in that game wouldn't however eliminate their chances as it would then be down to their net run rate and Scotland and Zimbabwe will then be down to six points. 

If Sri Lanka win, they guarantee a place in the World Cup tournament in India with a game remaining the the Super Six stage tie, against West Indies, who were eliminated from the race on Saturday after shock defeat to Scotland. In fact 2023 will be the first ever men's ODI World Cup edition to not feature the Caribbean team, who have previous won the trophy twice and ended up as the runner-up once.

Sandeep Lamichhane and Karan KC 3 picked three wickets each as Nepal bundled out UAE for just 181 runs. Captain Vriitya Aravind with his 44-run knock and Rohan Mustafa (35) were the pick of the batters for Nepal.

Both had failed to make the Super Six. Nepal finished fourth in Group A while UAE finished bottom of the table in Group B. They are now vying for a seventh-place finish in the ICC World Cup Qualifiers tournament. They are now playing a semi-final match against each other like USA and Ireland played the other day where the latter won. The winner of UAE vs Nepal will face Ireland for a seventh-place finish. The loser of UAE vs Nepal will face USA for a ninth-place play-off

“The change room remains positive no matter what happens out in the middle. Sri Lanka have a quality bowling attack, they bowled superbly. We don't have a lot of runs on the board but they still have to come out and get them. The crowd is out in numbers today and we will make sure that nothing gets easy for Sri Lanka in the second innings.”

Dilshan Madushanka picked three wickets while Theekshana picked four as Sri Lanka folded Zimbabwe for just 165 runs in 32.2 overs. Sean Williams and Sikandar Raza were the only batters to give some hope with the former scoring a hlaf-century and stitching a 68-run stand as well.

Hello and welcome to the Live coverage of the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifiers tournament where Sri Lanka face Zimbabwe for a spot in the 2023 edition in India while UAE and Nepal face each other in the play off semifinal.