Scotland’s winning run at the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup Qualifier came to an end on Tuesday as they lost to Sri Lanka by 82 runs, who top Group B.
Having been put into bat, Sri Lanka were bowled out for just 245 but on a tricky surface, that proved more than enough as Maheesh Theekshana (3/41) did the damage with the ball – Scotland losing their final wicket after just 29 overs.
That means Sri Lanka take four points through to the Super Six, with the Scots taking two as the race for qualification for the World Cup in India intensifies.
Scotland won the toss and chose to bowl, and did fantastically well to rein much of the exciting Sri Lanka batting lineup. For the first time in the tournament, Dimuth Karunaratne failed to make a half-century.
Chris Sole (2/46) struck early for Scotland, but Pathum Nissanka settled in for a fine knock before he was the first of Mark Watt’s (3/52) three victims.
The left-armer also removed Charith Asalanka (63), who had kept the scoreboard ticking over, first alongside Nissanka, and then once he had departed with the score on 142 for four.
Asalanka and Dhananjaya de Silva added 61 for the fifth wicket to take Sri Lanka to 203 for four before they lost three wickets for just four runs.
Chris Greaves (4/32) bowled Dhananjaya before having skipper Dasun Shanaka caught by Sole the next ball.
From there, Sri Lanka were in a battle simply to post a respectable total, with Wanindu Hasaranga (15) and Theekshana (16 not out) each providing handy contributions to take their side to 245.
With the spinners thriving, that was always going to be a challenging total for Scotland, and so it proved with Lahiru Kumara bowling Matthew Cross in the second over before the slow bowlers took over.
Theekshana confounded Brandon McMullen (5) and skipper Richie Berrington (10) before Kasun Rajitha served a reminder of what the quicks could do by pinning Tomas Mackintosh leg before for three.
Hasaranga ended Christopher McBride’s resistance on 29 and Shanaka then trapped Michael Leask for five with Scotland in all sorts of trouble at 74 for six.
That brought Greaves (56 not out) to the crease but while he tried to steady the ship, two more wickets in quick succession left Scotland eight down with just 100 on the board.
Greaves and Sole (17) added 55 for the ninth wicket but two run-outs saw their challenge come to an end with the final ball of the 29th over.
Meanwhile the fixtures for the Super Six and Playoff stages of the competition have now been confirmed.
ICC MEN’S CRICKET WORLD CUP QUALIFIER 2023 SUPER SIX AND PLAYOFF FIXTURES (All matches start at 09h00 local time)
Thursday, 29 June
Super 6: Zimbabwe v Oman, Queen’s Sports Club
Friday, 30 June
Super 6: Sri Lanka v Netherlands, Queen’s Sports Club
Playoff: Ireland v USA Takashinga Cricket Club
Saturday, 1 July
Super 6: Scotland v West Indies, Harare Sports Club
Sunday, 2 July
Super 6: Zimbabwe v Sri Lanka, Queen’s Sports Club
Playoff: Nepal v UAE Takashinga Cricket Club
Monday, 3 July
Super 6: Netherlands v Oman, Harare Sports Club
Tuesday, 4 July
Super 6: Zimbabwe v Scotland, Queen’s Sports Club
Playoff: 7th v 8th Takashinga Cricket Club
Wednesday, 5 July
Super 6: West Indies v Oman, Harare Sports Club
Thursday, 6 July
Super 6: Scotland v Netherlands, Queen’s Sports Club
Playoff: 9th v 10th Takashinga Cricket Club
Friday, 07 July
Super 6 Sri Lanka v West Indies, Harare Sports Club
Sunday, 09 July
Final, Harare Sports Club
