ODI World Cup: West Indies, Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka head into Qualifier unbeaten

The ICC Menrsquos Cricket World Cup 2023 Qualifier is set to begin from June 18 in Zimbabwe The ten participating teams ndash Zimbabwe the West Indies the Netherlands Nepal the United States Sri Lanka Ireland Scotland Oman the United Arab Emirates ndash will contest for two places at the ODI World CupWest Indies Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka will enter the Qualifier high on confidence having won both their warmup matches ahead of the tournamentNetherlands and Nepal will also both enter the group stages on the back of victories with the Netherlands overcoming Ireland while Nepal beat OmanPowell powers West Indies to big win against UAEBighitting Rovman Powells rapid century helped the West Indies defeat UAE by 114 runs at Takashinga Harare on ThursdayNicholas Poorans 74 had helped the Windies to a commanding position before three wickets in nine balls saw his side slip to 1987 midwayBut Powell in partnership with Keemo Paul put on 139 for the eighth wicket The former eventually dismissed for 105 from just 55 balls as the Windies posted 374 for nineThe UAE had a centurion of their own in the form of Basil Hameed who batted valiantly to reach 122 not out as his side fell 114 runs shortYannic Cariah was again the star of the West Indies attack as he took four for 58 to back up his fourwicket haul in the first warmup gameZimbabwe go two from two after dominant Scotland victoryBrandon McMullen fell one run short of a halfcentury as Scotland were bowled out for 163 having been put into bat by hosts ZimbabweThe righthander put on an inningshigh partnership of 47 runs with Matthew Cross for the second wicket before the latter was bowled by Brad Evans for 32McMullen was unable to build another partnership before he was dismissed by Ryan Burl for 49 with late cameos from Jack Jarvis 26 and Christopher McBride 20 pushing Scotland past 150In response Zimbabwe chased the modest total inside 25 overs with six wickets to spareSikandar Raza top scored with 44 from 28 balls while Joylord Gumbie and Craig Ervine both made 37 with Micheal Leasks two quick wickets only providing temporary resistanceKarunaratne century sets up big win for Sri LankaDimuth Karunaratne smashed a sparkling century as Sri Lanka handed USA a 198run defeat in BulawayoKarunaratne was joined at the crease by Kusal Mendis in the seventh over with Sri Lanka 39 for one before the pair combined for a 191run partnership to power the Lions to 392 for fiveMendis departed for 105 from 91 before Karunaratne retired not out on 111 from 100 balls to leave time for strong middleorder striking from Charith Asalanka and Dasun Shanaka who added 112 for the fifth wicketAfter losing both openers for just 10 runs to begin their response the USA rebuilt through Monank Patel who scored 68 before becoming one of three wickets in an over for Matheesha Pathirana to leave USA on 106 for sevenShayan Jahangir was left stranded on 63 not out as Usman Rafiq was run out with USA falling 198 runs shortAlso Read Sri Lanka drop Mathews from World Cup qualifiersBarresi guides Netherlands to winIreland were bowled out for 193 in the 40th over with Harry Tector who made a century against USA earlier in the week one of seven players to score single figures against Netherlands as Scott Edwards side shared the wickets aroundLorcan Tucker rebuilt from 58 for five in the 20th over helped by a quickfire 46 from 25 balls from Gareth Delany who became Shariz Ahmads second wicketTucker was stumped by Edwards for 74 off the bowling of Clayton Floyd before Craig Young fell three balls later to Saqib Zulfiqar to bring Irelands innings to a premature closeWesley Barresis 90 helped see the Netherlands home with Barresi and Max ODowd putting on 89 for the second wicket though Ireland did not go down without a fightThree balls after ODowd departed Noah Croes was also dismissed by Ben White who returned figures of five for 61 as Ireland reduced Netherlands to 114 for six in the 19th overBarresi was dismissed 10 runs short of a century but Aryan Dutt and Logan van Beek calmly knocked off the remaining runs to see the Netherlands home by two wicketsNepal hold on to defeat OmanCaptain Zeeshan Maqsood rescued Oman after they slipped to seven for four going on to make a runaball centuryMaqsood combined with Shoaib Khan to steady Oman putting on 84 runs for the fifth wicket before compiling an 115run partnership with Ayaan KhanThe lefthander was dismissed for 109 as Sompal Kami struck twice in the penultimate over before Khan departed in the final over for 56 Kami claiming figures of five for 57 to leave Oman 267 all outIn reply Nepal made a strong start as opener Kushal Bhurtel scored 101 before retiring as he and Bhim Sharki added 115 runs for the second wicketWith Nepal needing just one run to win Oman hit back with three quick wickets as Aqib Ilyas took four for 42 before Sandeep Lamichhane hit a six from the first ball that he faced to secure the winZimbabwe and Nepal will go against each other in the first ODI match of the QualifierWith PTI inputsAlso Read Trent Boult could return for New Zealand at ODI World Cup 2023