Cricket World Cup qualifiers warm-up begins in Zimbabwe

The ICC Cricket World Cup qualifiers are underway. The first day of warm-up fixtures witnessed incredible cricket being played as teams will keep battling to acclaim a spot in the upcoming ICC Cricket World Cup.

Ten teams will compete in the qualifying tournament in Zimbabwe over the next month, with the final two spots up for grabs at the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup in India later this year, as per the official website of ICC.

Sri Lanka beat the Netherlands by three wickets. The Netherlands got close to an upset win against tournament favourites Sri Lanka in Bulawayo.

Some friendly bowling conditions early on saw the Dutch side slip to 28/4, but a middle-order revival helped them to a total of 214 all out in 45.3 overs, with Teja Nidamanuru (41 from 62), Scott Edwards (35 from 48) and Saqib Zulfiqar (56 from 64) the main contributors.

Kasun Rajitha was the stand-out performer with the ball, taking 3/19 in seven overs, while Maheesh Theekshana bagged 2/36 from his ten and Dhananjaya de Silva took 2/19 from four. There were also wickets for Lahiru Kumara, Chamika Karunaratne and Matheesha Pathirana.

An excellent start with the ball from the Netherlands attack saw Sri Lanka reduced to 98/5, with Floyd picking up 2/40 in the pick of the returns. Dimuth Karunaratne's 55-ball 47 helped set some sort of a platform, and Charith Asalanka's timely resistance from number five (29 from 38) halted the flow of wickets.

But it was the captain Dasun Shanaka who saved Sri Lanka on the day, with his 67* from 52 balls steering Sri Lanka to a winning score of 215/7 with 12.5 overs still remaining but just three wickets in hand.

Ireland beat the USA by five wickets. Harry Tector, ICC Men's Player of the Month for May 2023, starred as Ireland won in a run-fest at the Bulawayo Athletic Club.

Set 312 to win, Ireland lost two early wickets to leave them in a spot of trouble. But impressive knocks from Paul Stirling (55 from 53) and Lorcan Tucker (68 from 59) formed part of two crucial stands, both with the imperious Tector, who finished not out on 149 from 123 balls.

Tector hit 17 boundaries including seven maximums in his match-winning knock, with the victory coming with 4.5 overs to spare.

There were plenty of positives for the USA to take, with all of the top five making runs. Monank Patel (77) and Aaron Jones (89) were the top scorers, with Saiteja Mukkamalla adding some firepower down the order with 44* from 33 balls.