Sri Lanka crush West Indies by 8 wickets

Harare: Having already sealed their berth for the ODI World Cup in India, Sri Lanka geared up for their Qualifier summit clash against the Netherlands with a resounding eight-wicket victory over the West Indies.

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.

The victory meant that Sri Lanka remained unbeaten in the qualifying event and now face one final hurdle in Netherlands to be crowned Qualifier champions. Nissanka’s 113-ball knock formed a large part of a 190-run opening stand with Dimuth Karunaratne (83) that took the game away from the West Indies.

Kusal Mendis (34) and Sadeera Samarawickrama (17) did the rest to easily reach their target of 244, for which Windies had Carty (87) to thank after Maheesh Theekshana (4/34) had ripped through much of their top order. West Indies had started strongly, racing to 31 from their first four overs before Theekshana conceded just two from his

first over.