Sports

Sri Lanka leave for World Cup Qualifiers

Published

3 years ago

2023/06/12

Sri Lanka opening batsman Pathum Nissanka takes part in religious observations before the team flew off to Zimbabwe to take part in World Cup Qualifiers.

by Rex Clementine

The national cricket team left for Zimbabwe on Saturday to take part in the World Cup Qualifiers, their last chance to earn a spot for the sport’s showpiece event – the ICC Cricket World Cup – to be held in India in October and November.

Only the top eight ranked teams gained automatic qualification for the World Cup. Sri Lanka struggled during the qualifying period winning only seven of their 24 games and losing 14 matches, collecting just 81 points.

The World Cup Qualifiers features ten teams and only two of them go through the World Cup. Along with Sri Lanka, two times champions West Indies, who failed to go through strait will be involved in the qualifications.

Sri Lanka are in Group ‘B’ alongside Ireland, Scotland, Oman and UAE. The top three teams in the group will progress to the Super Six stage where they will take on the other three qualifiers from Group ‘A’. The points from the group stage against the other teams that qualified will be taken forward for the Super Six stage. The top two teams will end up playing the finals apart from earning spots in the World Cup that will only feature ten teams.

Sri Lanka and West Indies are tipped to reach the finals and progress for the World Cup. Sri Lanka’s win over Afghanistan last week should give them confidence ahead of the qualifying round. Afghanistan are already through to the World Cup

Sri Lanka’s first game is against the UAE on the 19th June followed by matches against Oman, Ireland and Scotland. Dasun Shanaka’s side will play a warm-up game against Netherlands on the 13th June followed by another warm-up game against USA, two days later.

Sri Lanka have featured in every World Cup since taking part in the inaugural edition in 1975 under the captaincy of Anura Tennakoon. This is the first time Sri Lanka are playing a qualifying round in the 50 over format since 1979.

Sri Lanka’s World Cup Qualifiers Schedule

Warm-up games

June 13 – versus Netherlands

June 15 – versus USA

Group Matches

June 19 – versus UAE

June 23 – versus Oman

June 25– versus Ireland

June 27 – versus Scotland

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Feroza, Amin, Sandhu shine as Pakistan go 1-0 up against Sri Lanka

Published

9 hours ago

2026/07/23

Priyan

Gull Feroza scored her fourth successive ODI half-century in Pakistan's win over Sri Lanka

Half-centuries from Gull Feroza and Sidra Amin helped Pakistan start their tour of Sri Lanka on a winning note. After restricting Sri Lanka to 210 for 9, thanks to Nashra Sandhu’s 3 for 42, Pakistan got home with five wickets and seven overs to spare in the first woman’s ODI in Hambantota.

Vishmi Gunaratne, reunited with captain chamari Athapaththu at the top of the order, helped Sri Lanka lay a solid foundation after they opted to bat. The hosts raced to 31 without loss in the first five overs. Gunaratne and Athapaththu soon brought up their fifth fifty-run partnership in ODIs, the most by an opening pair for Sri Lanka.

Once spin came on, the scoring slowed down. Gunaratne was the first to depart when she became Sandhu’s first victim. Athapaththu and Hasini Perera then added 53 for the second wicket before the Sri Lanka captain was bowled by Sandhu. Pakistan applied the squeeze when Sri Lanka were 109 for 2 in the 24th over. The only notable stand for Sri Lanka thereon was between Nilakshika Silva and Kavisha Dilhari, who added 42 for the fifth wicket. But Sri Lanka’s final surge never came and they lost 5 for 32 in the last seven overs to be restricted to a below-par total.

Pakistan hardly broke a sweat in their chase. Feroza struck her fourth successive ODI half-century. She was rapid in the first powerplay, and was the aggressor in the 58-run opening partnership with Sadar Shamas. Feroza then added 90 for the second wicket with Amin, who batted steadily. Feroza eventually fell for a breezy 77-ball 78 while Amin scored 57 off 94 before being dismissed, with victory in sight.

The win was Pakistan’s fifth consecutive ODI win, which put them second on the ICC Women’s Championship points table.

Scores:

Pakistan Women 211 for 5 in 43 overs (Gull Feroza 78, Sidra Amin 57; Kavisha Dilhari 2-37) beat Sri Lanka Women 210 for 9 in 50 overs (Nilakshika Silva 46, Chamari Athapaththu 46; Nashra Sandhu 3-42, Tasmia Rubab 2-34) by five wickets

(CRICINFO)

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Taskin Ahmed withdraws from LPL to prepare for Australia tour

Published

15 hours ago

2026/07/23

Priyan

Taskin was supposed to play for Jaffna Kings [Cricbuzz]

Bangladesh pacer Taskin Ahmed said on Wednesday (July 22) that he has withdrawn from the Lanka Premier League (LPL) to prepare for the upcoming Test tour of Australia. Taskin, who arrived in Dhaka with the team from Zimbabwe, was supposed to head to Sri Lanka due to play for Jaffna Kings in the tournament.

Bangladesh are scheduled to depart in August for the all-important Australia tour where they will play a two-Test series down under for the first time since 2003.

Taskin had initially obtained a No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) to feature in the tournament and was expected to skip the T20I series against Zimbabwe. However, he stayed back in Zimbabwe for the series after Mustafizur Rahman was ruled out due to injury.

“Yeah, I had withdrawn myself from LPL and it is mainly for Australia Test series preparation,” Taskin told Cricbuzz. “We played six back-to-back matches in Zimbabwe, maybe I would have got four matches there (in LPL). After my stint there (in LPL) if I return home and immediately go to Australia my Test match preparation would be hampered,” he said.

“Despite a little loss I thought it’s okay as Australia series won’t come around often.That’s why I took the decision and so I pulled out from the LPL even after having the NOC,” he added.

The Bangladesh team management are also waiting anxiously on Nahid Rana after he sustained a left side strain during the second T20I against Zimbabwe. The young fast bowler was unable to complete his spell. Rana, who arrived earlier in the day, will undergo scans to determine the extent of the injury.

Meanwhile, left-arm pacer Shoriful Islam is undergoing rehabilitation after suffering a hamstring injury during the Zimbabwe tour. If his rehabilitation progresses as planned, he will be in contention for the opening Test as a standard recovery period for such an injury is around three weeks.

The two Test matches, part of the ongoing World Test Championship cycle, will be played in Darwin (August 13-17) and Mackay (August 22-26).

[Cricbuzzz]

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Sri Lanka edge Qatar in Davis Cup opener

Published

19 hours ago

2026/07/23

Priyan

Thehan Wijemanne ( Pix by Kamal Wanniarachchi)

Hosts Sri Lanka made a winning start to their Davis Cup Asia/Oceania Group IV campaign, edging out Qatar 2-1 in a closely contested opening-day tie at the Sri Lanka Tennis Association courts in Colombo on Wednesday.

The visitors struck first when Mubarak Alharrasi defeated Sri Lanka’s Apna Perera 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 in a hard-fought opening singles encounter, giving Qatar an early 1-0 lead.

Sri Lanka bounced back in the second singles as Thehan Wijemanne produced a spirited comeback to overcome Mossa Alharrasi 3-6, 6-4, 6-4. After dropping the opening set, Wijemanne showed great composure to win the next two sets and level the tie at 1-1.

The decisive doubles match proved to be a tense affair, with Apna Perera returning to partner Saha Kapilasena. The Sri Lankan duo held their nerve in two tie-breaks to defeat Jabar Al Mutawan and Mossa Alharrasi 7-6, 7-6, sealing the tie 2-1 for the hosts.

Sri Lanka’s ability to recover from the opening singles defeat highlighted the team’s resilience as Wijemanne’s comeback victory and the doubles pair’s clutch performance ensured a successful start to their campaign. The hosts will now look to build on the opening-day victory as they continue their quest for promotion in the Asia/Oceania Group IV competition.