 "CWC Qualifier Day 2 preview: Sri Lanka take on UAE, Oman challenge Ireland")
Sri Lanka would be pumped up after watching its Zimbabwe and West Indies pick up easy wins in their first encounters of the Cricket World Cup Qualifiers. The Lankan Lions take on the United Arab Emirates in their first game of the tournament at the Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo.
Sri Lanka failed to finish in the top eight of the CWC ODI Super League and are therefore playing Qualifier. They would want to make sure that they finish among the top two here and make it to the 2023 ODI World Cup. UAE had to go through two rounds of qualification via ICC CWC League Two and CWC Qualifier Playoffs before reaching here.
Dasun Shanaka led Sri Lanka are without doubt the favourites to go through with world-renowned players like Wanindu Hasaranga, Dhananjaya de Silva in their ranks. They also beat Afghanistan in an ODI series at home and won both their warm-up games against Netherlands and USA comfortably before this game.
UAE would aim for an upset. They beat Nepal in the warm-up match and put up a good fight against West Indies in the warm-up as well as in a three-match ODI series back home, just ahead of the CWC Qualifiers.
SL vs UAE, CWC Qualifier 2023: Details
Match No.- 03
Date- 19 June 2023
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Time- 12:30 pm IST, 09:00 am Local Time
Venue- Queens Sports Club, Bulawayo
Series- Cricket World Cup Qualifier 2023
Live Stream and Broadcast in India: Disney Plus Hotstar, Fancode and Star Sports
Sri Lanka probable playing 11
Dimuth Karunaratne, Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Mendis (wk), Charith Asalanka, Dhananjaya de Silva, Dasun Shanaka (c), Wanindu Hasaranga, Chamika Karunaratne, Dushmantha Chameera, Maheesh Theekshana, Matheesha Pathirana
United Arab Emirates probable playing 11
Mohammad Waseem, Ali Naseer, Rohan Mustafa, Vriitya Aravind, Rameez Shahzad, Basil Hameed, Aayan Khan, Junaid Siddique, Zahoor Khan, Karthik Meiyappan, Jawadullah
Sri Lanka vs United Arab Emirates CWC Qualifier, Pitch Report
The pitch at QSC has so far been the toughest among all the five grounds where warm-up matches were played. The highest total at this ground has been 215, which was made by Sri Lanka while chasing 215 against the Netherlands. The Lankan Lions lost seven wickets in the chase. In another game involving Ireland and the Dutch, Men in Orange lost eight wickets while chasing down 194. The pitch has assistance for spinners and therefore both teams would have to tread cautiously on it.
In the second game of the day, which will start simultaneously at the Bulawayo Athletic Club, a few miles away from QSC in Bulawayo, Ireland would face Oman. Ireland have played three World Cups in 2007, 2011 and 2015 and are vying for a place in the fourth.
Oman are aiming for their first ever ODI World Cup entry. They played their maiden T20 World Cup, seven years ago in 2016, incidentally also in India. The Omani team is by no means a cakewalk for Ireland as the conditions here are more familiar to Oman’s home than Ireland’s.
IRE vs OMA, CWC Qualifier 2023: Details
Match No.- 04
Date- 19 June 2023
Time- 12:30 pm IST, 09:00 am Local Time
Venue- Bulawayo Athletic Club, Bulawayo
Series- Cricket World Cup Qualifier 2023
Live Stream and Broadcast in India: Disney Plus Hotstar, Fancode and Star Sports
Ireland probable playing 11
Paul Stirling, Andrew Balbirnie (c), Harry Tector, Lorcan Tucker (wk), Gareth Delany, George Dockrell, Curtis Campher, Andy McBrine, Mark Adair, Ben White, Josh Little
Oman probable playing 11
Jatinder Singh, Kashyap Prajapati, Zeeshan Maqsood (c), Aqib Ilyas (vc), Ayaan Khan, Shoaib Khan, Mohammed Nadeem, Suraj Kumar (wk), Bilal Khan, Kaleemullah, Fayyaz Butt
Ireland vs Oman, CWC Qualifier pitch report
In the two warm-up matches that took place at the Bulawayo Athletic Club, teams have had brilliant batting practice. In both games combined, 1213 runs were scored in four innings, meaning at least 300 runs per inning. This wicket is a batting paradise. The Irish and Omani batters would look to make the most of it.
Also Read: CWC Qualifier group B: Sri Lanka favourites, will Ireland make it as well?
Also Read: CWC Qualifier group B: Sri Lanka favourites, will Ireland make it as well?
Bulawayo Weather Forecast
It will be bright and sunny throughout the day in Bulawayo as the temperature would increase from 17 Degrees Celcius at 09:00 am Local time to 24 Degrees Celcius by 05:00 pm Local Time. There are no chances of rain at all.