Muhammad Waseem:
“We started well. We were looking for some early wickets but we did not get early wickets and did not bowl well in the middle as well. Moisture was there on the pitch (in the first hour) but they played very well. I thought we can restrict them to 260 to 270 but we did not bowl well in the last half of the innings. We started well (in the chase) when myself in Vriitya was batting. We thought we can do this, but after that when I lost my wicket and suddenly we collapsed again. [On Ali Naseer] He is a great talent and the future of the UAE, but if he played all 50 overs he can score much more.”
Dasun Shanaka:
“We’ve been playing well in the recent past. Placing qualifiers is always special but we don’t take pressure when we play cricket. I would still have bowled first. The first 5-6 overs, it always does something. We have two good fast bowlers, Kasun Rajitha and Lahiru Kumara, so our plan is to get early wickets with them and then our spinners come into the game so that’s how I would like to operate. [On the top order] They’ve been outstanding, Dimuth Karunaratne and Pathum Nissanka, in the recent past.
Dimuth comes into the game and and he carries the game to the middle overs. That’s a key area we could have done better. That’s the key to success. I would like to see my two fast bowlers getting wickets up front with the movement. Today we got a wicket with a short ball. We could have bowled in that right area a bit and got a couple of wickets. I think that’s the key. And Hasaranga, we know he is going to do the job always. [On the short ball plan] I think with the surface, we need to try our short balls. As the tournament progresses, we need to go with the right plan.”
Wanindu Hasaranga is named Player of the Match:
“I’m really happy. This is my 50th wicket I take today and this five-for make me really happy. When we were batting, the wicket was really good. When we were bowling, the ball gripped a little bit so that was the benefit we have. On this kind of wicket, I always try to bowl wicket to wicket. Especially on this wicket if you bowl at the stumps, you always have a chance to get wickets. Our batters played really well. 354 on this kind of wicket, that was a brilliant score. Kusal played really well and Sadeera played really well. Dimuth and Pathum started really well. At the end of the innings with myself and Charith, we ended up with a really good score.”
Sri Lanka vs United Arab Emirates Highlights today, Monday 19-6-2023. 3rd Match, Group B, ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 Qualifier, Queens Sports Club, Bulawayo.
Toss: U.A.E. chose to field.
Sri Lanka team: Pathum Nissanka, Dimuth Karunaratne, Kusal Mendis †, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Charith Asalanka, Dhananjaya de Silva, Dasun Shanaka (c), Wanindu Hasaranga, Maheesh Theekshana, Kasun Rajitha, Lahiru Kumara.
United Arab Emirates team: Muhammad Waseem (c), Rohan Mustafa, Vriitya Aravind †, Basil Hameed, Asif Khan, Rameez Shahzad, Ali Naseer, Aayan Afzal Khan, Karthik Meiyappan, Zahoor Khan, Muhammad Jawadullah.
Head to Head In ODI’s: 2
Sri Lanka Won: 2
United Arab Emirates Won: 0
Sri Lanka ODI Rankings: 9th
United Arab Emirates ODI Rankings: 19th
Form guide
(last five completed ODI’s, most recent first)
Sri Lanka WWLLL
United Arab Emirates LLLLW
Match Timings: 7:00 AM GMT | 9:00 AM Local
Umpires – Langton Rusere, Wayne Knights
TV Umpire – Gregory Brathwaite
Match Referee – Emmanuel Dube
Reserve Umpire – Bongani Jele
Match number – ODI no. 4587
