Harare [Zimbabwe], July 7 : After guiding his team to a thumping 8-wicket victory over West Indies, Sri Lanka bowler Maheesh Theekshana said that he was "keen" to take a five-wicket haul. He got four wickets.
With a dominant all-round performance, Sri Lanka rattled West Indies to register an 8-wicket victory at the Harare Sports Club on Friday in the Cricket World Cup Qualifier and finish unbeaten in the Super Six stage.
Sri Lanka openers once again provided the ideal start with Pathum Nissanka showing his explosive intent right from the start. The target looked well short in front of the calibre of the opening pair as both batters safely negotiated the initial tricky period.
"I knew that I had to lead the attack today with a couple of young guys in the side. I stuck to my strengths and tried to create pressure. With older ball, there is no great support off the pitch, but there are enough chances to pick wickets with the new ball. I was keen to get five wickets but I haven't managed it," Theekshana said in a post-match presentation.
Coming to the match, Opening batters Pathum Nissanka (104) and Dimuth Karunaratne (83) did the bulk of the damage to chase down 243 after Keacy Carty (87) had dragged Windies to a respectable target.
Victory means Sri Lanka remains unbeaten in Zimbabwe and now face one final hurdle in the Netherlands to be crowned Qualifier champions.
Nissanka hit 104 runs off 113 balls as part of a 190-run opening stand with Dimuth Karunaratne that took the game away from West Indies.
Kusal Mendis (34) and Sadeera Samarawickrama (17) did the rest to easily reach their target of 244, for which Windies had Keacy Carty (87) to thank. Maheesh Theekshana (4/34) had ripped through much of their top order.
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