Sri Lanka and Scotland in action on Saturday: 2023 CWC Qualifier Day 6 Preview and Prediction
The qualifiers are halfway through and all the teams are giving their absolute best in order to find a place in the main draw of the upcoming World Cup. Top teams such as Sri Lanka and West Indies are proving their prowess as they have managed to remain unbeaten yet.
On the contrary, few teams are still rooting for their first victory as another loss can land them out of the competition at an early stage. Despite everything, the fans are getting to witness breathtaking matches and unforgettable performances.
With five more days of action-packed cricket remaining, the anticipation around the qualification stage, though, is by no means expected to decrease. Thus, without wasting any other moment, let’s look at the World Cup qualifying matches scheduled for day 6.
Match 1: Sri Lanka vs Oman
On day six of the World Cup qualifiers, match no. 11 will be played between Sri Lanka and Oman and the match will take place at the Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo. After the first win, Dasun Shanaka’s side will be looking forward to locking the World Cup spot as soon as possible.
The Sri Lankan cricket team is in menacing form as they are yet to lose a game in their last five fixtures. In the warm-up matches, they defeated the likes of the Netherlands and the United States with astounding batting and bowling performances leaving their opponents bamboozled. Following a similar momentum, they entered the qualifiers and recorded a cakewalk victory.
In the first match, they locked horns against UAE. Their opening pair of Pathum Nissanka and Dimuth Karunaratne played exceptionally well against the unpredictable bowling line-up of Emirates. The middle order also capitalized on the opportunity and Sri Lanka posted a mammoth target of 355.
Eventually, it turned out to be too much for the UAE as they failed dreadfully against Wanindu Hasaranga’s bowling prowess. The right-arm leg-break bowler broke the opposition’s back taking 6 wickets and leaking only 24 runs.
Oman has been unbeaten in their two initial ICC World Cup qualifiers
On the other hand, Oman has been the actual underdogs in this edition’s World Cup qualifiers. Interestingly, they lost both of their warm-up matches against Zimbabwe and Nepal respectively. However, as they entered the qualifiers, they started their campaign with a surprising win over the Irish cricket team with 11 balls to spare. The Middle Eastern nation displayed a brilliant team effort to take down the likes of Ireland in their first group-stage match.
In the second match, they faced UAE, and again with a valiant team effort, they managed to grasp the win while chasing the target of 228. Aqib Ilyas and Mohammad Nadeem have given brilliant performances in both the matches and they’re trusted to deliver more in the forthcoming fixtures.
The batting units of both sides have been the key figure in deciding the result of the match but Dasun Shanaka’s side is also rich in all-rounders. And if we talk about bowling, Sri Lanka has an upper hand on their Middle Eastern rivals because of Wanindu Hasaranga and Matheesha Pathirana.
Sri Lanka Predicted XI: Pathum Nissanka, Dimuth Karunaratne, Kusal Mendis (wk), Charith Asalanka, Dhananjaya de Silva, Dasun Shanaka ©, Wanindu Hasaranga, Maheesh Theekshana, Dushmantha Chameera, Lahiru Kumara, Matheesha Pathirana.
Oman Predicted XI: Aqib Ilyas, Jatinder Singh, Kashyap Prajapati, Zeeshan Maqsood ©, Naseem Khushi (wk), Sandeep Goud, Ayaan Khan, Mohammad Nadeem, Bilal Khan, Fayyaz Butt, Kaleemullah
Oman will have their biggest test in the qualifiers as they’ll face Sri Lanka in their third match. The Middle Eastern nation is in brilliant form, however, defeating the defending Asia Cup champions is quite likely for them.
Match 2: Scotland vs UAE
Scotland managed to pull off an unforgettable win against Ireland
The second match of Day 6 will be played between Scotland and UAE at the Bulawayo Athletic Club Sports Grounds. Richie Berrington will be looking forward to leading his side towards another possibly positive result against their Asian rivals in the next fixture. On day 4, Scotland got the best possible start to their campaign as they recorded a thriller win over the likes of arch-rivals, Ireland.
Playing against the Irish, Berrington’s XI won the toss and they chose to field first. Their decision proved to be right as Ireland’s batting line-up collapsed in the powerplay being 33/4. Consequently, lower-order batters, Curtis Campher and George Dockrell came to their side’s rescue with heroic innings and helped Ireland post a respectable target of 287.
Nevertheless, when Scotland came to bat, they also started losing wickets at regular intervals. However, things went from bad to worse when Chris Greaves lost his wicket, and the Scottish Saltires were left 152/7. Nevertheless, just like Campher and Dockrell, Micheal Leask and Mark Watt held the match with its neck and gave their best. Eventually, Leask’s last ball four decided the fate of the match and the Scots got their first win as two runs were required in the final ball of the match.
On the other hand, UAE has been constantly suffering from agony on the big stage. Starting their campaign against one-time World Cup winners, Sri Lanka, they got hammered by 175 runs. Moreover, in the second match, that was played on day four, Oman chopped their chances of World Cup qualifications with a five-wicket win chasing a total of 228.
Scotland will arrive at the Bulawayo Athletic Club Sports Ground with astounding confidence as they have managed to capture a riveting win over their arch-rival in their opening game. On the other hand, with two consecutive losses that were equally distressing, UAE will have a hard time against their European rivals on the sixth day of the World Cup qualifiers.
Scotland Predicted XI: Tom Mackintosh, Chris Greaves, Richie Berrington ©, Matthew Cross (wk), Chris Sole, Mark Watt, Safyaan Sharif, George Munsey, Christopher McBride, Brandon McMullen, Michael Leask
UAE Predicted XI: Waseem Muhammad ©, Vriitya Aravind (wk), Rameez Shahzad, Basil Hameed, Ali Naseer, Rohan Mustafa, Asif Khan, Aayan Khan, Junaid Siddique, Zahoor Khan, Karthik Meiyappan.
After getting a blazing start, Scotland will focus on doubling their lead against UAE as their remaining fixtures will be against Sri Lanka and Oman Thus, from the perspective of bowling as well as batting, the Scots have a stronger side with a better overall record.