Oman was beaten to 98 runs, the second-lowest ODI total in their history, thanks to Wanindu Hasaranga’s second consecutive five-wicket haul as Sri Lanka easily defeated them by ten wickets. With two victories out of two, the outcome puts Sri Lanka with one foot in the Super Sixes.
The Sri Lankan openers completed the chase in 15 overs, sealing the victory that Hasaranga had begun with his 5 for 13 figures. In the process, Dimuth Karunaratne scored his tenth fifty in ODIs.
The process of the victory has also significantly improved Sri Lanka’s net run rate, which they should be able to maintain at the Super Sixes level, if Oman qualify. Oman, who has two victories out of their first three games, is still in a strong position to go to the next round despite this loss.
On a cold and cloudy morning in Bulawayo, Dasun Shanaka wasted no time in putting Oman in to bat, knowing that the going would be rough for the hitters early on.
Lahiru Kumara, who usually bowled in the 135-140 kph region, was especially impressive because his pace, combined with the harsh lengths he frequently looks to exploit, proved to be too much for the Oman batsmen, the majority of whom were unused to dealing with such pace.
With a decent length delivery that pitched and straightened on off stump, Kumara took his maiden wicket in the first over he played. As a result of failing to get bat on the ball, Kashyap Prajapati was caught on the back pad after seeing a leading edge taken by Kumara from a similar delivery earlier in the over.
Zeeshan Maqsood and Mohammad Nadeem both chipped in for square legs for Kumara’s following two shots, which were both shorter. A Player-of-the-Match performance on any other day, he would finish with figures of 3 for 22 in eight overs.
Just one wicket was taken by Kasun Rajitha at the other end, but he continually posed a threat by bowling the annoying line outside off. The right-hander pushed hesitantly beyond his off stump only to get a thick edge to a recently installed fifth slip, so it was only fitting that an outswinger to Aqib Ilyas would give him a well-deserved reward.
Oman would finally be down to 20 for 4 halfway through the 10th over thanks to the Kumara-Rajitha one-two combo. Speaking after the game, Karunaratne claimed that the circumstances gave the pace attack a window of opportunity, which they seized.
“Today we won the toss and there was something for the fast bowlers, with the cloudy conditions. They grabbed the opportunity.”
Then, Jatinder Singh and Ayaan Khan put on a 52-run stand, giving Oman a slim chance of scoring a respectable total.
But all of these dreams were dashed in a single Hasaranga. Jatinder, Shoaib Khan, and Jay Odedra were all dismissed after three googlies, three wickets, and zero runs. After a disastrous effort at a slog, Shoaib was castled while Jatinder and Odedra were both eliminated lbw. It was only a question of time after that.
Hasaranga was strongly opposed to Ayaan’s attempt to continue carrying the tail. By trapping Bilal Khan in the lbw as the final man, he would earn his five-for. His five dismissals were all bowled, with the exception of one lbw.
The only player who would need a teammate’s help is Ayaan, who was effectively captured at slip. Oman had a terrible day, while Sri Lanka had yet another flawless performance, made even worse by the run-out that was also included in the mix.
Karunaratne summed it up:
“We’ve won convincingly, and that’s what we’ve wanted to do. Everything is in pretty good shape. But we want to take it match by match and get to the Super Sixes.”