Ireland’s World Cup hopes ended by heavy loss against Sri Lanka

BULAWAYO (Agencies): Ireland’s lingering hopes of qualifying for the World Cup are over after they suffered a 133-run defeat by Sri Lanka in Zimbabwe.

Wanindu Hasaranga made it 16 wickets from three qualifiers with 5-79 as Group B leaders Sri Lanka moved through to the Super Six stage. It was a third loss from three games in what has been a disappointing qualifier tournament for the Irish side. They lost to Oman and Scotland in their opening group matches. That left Ireland needing to beat the Sri Lankans on Sunday to maintain any chance of progressing.

However, all they have to play for now is aiming to avoid finishing bottom of Group B by beating current basement side United Arab Emirates when they meet in their last match on Tuesday.

A late rally by Ireland’s bowlers, led by Mark Adair with 4-46 and Barry McCarthy who took 3-56, gave them an outside chance as they bowled the Sri Lankans out for 325.

They began their response in a positive fashion with Andy McBrine hitting a few early fours but Hasaranga in particular proved too strong with the ball to condemn Ireland to their seventh consecutive ODI defeat.

Curtis Campher posted 39 runs and Harry Tector delivered 33 but the side led by Andrew Balbirnie never really looked like successfully chasing down their opponents’ total.

The leading three from each group at the qualifier tournament will advance to the Super Six stage, with the top two from the 10-team competition progressing to the World Cup in India later this year.

McMullen’s 136 helps Scotland reach Super Six

Brandon McMullen’s powerhouse 136 led Scotland to the Super Six stage of the World Cup Qualifier with a 76-run win over Oman.

McMullen registered the highest total in the tournament as Doug Watson’s side reached 320 all out, with Bilal Khan taking five wickets. Only Naseem Khushi was able to make a significant score in Oman’s chase, but he was caught on 69 by Chris McBride.

The Scots finish Group B against Sri Lanka on Tuesday (08:00 BST). Like Scotland, Sri Lanka have three wins from three and beat Ireland by 133 runs on Sunday.

McBride fell lbw for Scotland in the first over, but McMullen’s 136, including three sixes, gave the Scots the momentum they needed, with captain Richie Berrington contributing 60. McMullen was eventually caught by Kashyap Prajapati, with Berrington run out by Jatinder Singh, but Mark Watt’s 25 helped Scotland past 300 late on.

McMullen took the first Oman wicket as Prajapati went for 12 with Jatinder Singh then bowled for 14 by Adrian Neill. Leask bowled Zeeshan Masqood for eight, Watt dismissed Aqib Ilyas for 31 and Mohammad Nadeem went lbw in the first of five wickets taken by Chris Greaves, which also included top scorer Khushi. Shoaib Khan was caught for 36 by McMullen as Oman struggled to make in-roads to their 321 target and ended on 244-9.

McMullen ‘just tried to keep it simple’

Afterwards, player of the match McMullen told Sky Sports: “It was a great day and a great way to finish. “Our bowlers were clinical, and [Greaves] finished it off incredibly well. “I just tried to keep it as simple as possible and do it my way. I played my own game. I can’t give you those secrets yet. “We just need to play our best cricket and be more disciplined with the bat and ball. That’s basically it. Score more than Sri Lanka, that’s what [Matthew] Crossy always says.”