The commentary is not available for this match. Please check the scorecard for latest updates.
That's all from us for now. But don't go anywhere. The second Ashes Test at Lord's is gearing up for a dramatic finish. You can follow the game right here! This is Karthik Raj and Bala signing off. Good-bye!
Well, then. Sri Lanka seal the World Cup spot by extending their unbeaten run in the tournament. They have been top notch throughout the qualifiers and definitely deserve to be the first team to book the spot.
The net run rate has taken a pounding for Zimbabwe after this defeat. The game against Scotland is going to be virtual semifinal now.
Dasun Shanaka (captain, Sri Lanka): Coming for qualifiers, we knew it was always tough. If we go through process, we believed that we are going to qualify. Credit to the other teams, they have played some good cricket and some teams gave us good challenge, but we came out better side. He (Dilshan Madushanka)has been outstanding. These bunch of players, they have got their own skills. They utilize the conditions, that is important. Knowing our strengths in batting and bowling is important. That is what has brought us success. We play one step at a time, every game, we don't take it easy. We want to play as hard as we can. West Indies game, we won't take nicely. We want to prove that we are the better team. It's a big achievement. But you know what we have done in the past. We have won it in 1996, and were runners up in 2011. It's much needed for Sri Lanka to be appearing in the big stage. The pressure begins in the big stage. World Cup is the main focus and the main target for us.
Craig Ervine (captain, Zimbabwe): I thought it was challenging batting first. A couple of soft dismissals early on. Losing three wickets early put us on the back foot. He (Maheesh Theekshana) is a veteran, done it on numerous occasions. The partnership between Sean Williams and Sikandar Raza seemed to be getting us back, but he came back and destroyed our middle order. We couldn't recover from there. I don't think we need to prepare any different (for the game against Scotland). We have played some very good cricket, but SL was better than us today.
Maheesh Theekshana (Player of the Match): We had some good plans. After the first ten overs, we didn't execute the plans well. I had a chat with Dasun and made changes some changes in the field-set. Because we lost Lahiru, I knew I was going to bowl well with the new ball. Sikandar and Seal were batting brilliantly in that period, I knew we needed a wicket. Think I executed the plan and did well. Knew that we had to win all the games in this tournament. We still have two games left and have to win those too!
Sri Lanka 169/1 (33.1 overs) Pathum Nissanka 101*(102) | Dimuth Karunaratne 30(56) Richard Ngarava 1/35 (7)
It was a cakewalk for Sri Lanka in the end. The bowlers had done all what was necessary in the first half of the game, dismissing the opposition for just 165 runs. The target was not going to be a challenging one, given that the track did not have a lot to offer for the bowlers.
Openers Pathum Nissanka and Dimuth Karunaratne took their time at the start, trying to ensure that they don't lose early wickets. That was the only way Zimbabwe might have made their way back into this game. Karunaratne played cautiously as his partner kept finding boundaries at the other end. It became even more easy once the shine was a bit off.
Richard Ngarava created a chance early in the innings when Karunaratne clipped one straight into the hands of Bradley Evans at mid-wicket, but he failed to hold on. There wasn't much on offer after that. The ball hardly went past the edge and both batters seemed comfortable. It took a short ball from Ngarava in the 20th over of the innings to induce a false shot from Karunaratne which found the fielder at fineleg. The pair had put on 103 runs by then.
Nissanka continued to find the boundary regularly ensuring that the bowlers were never allowed to dominate the proceedings. He scored freely and reached his second ODI century off just 102 deliveries. Kusal Mendis gave him good support after the dismissal of his opening partner.
Ngarava and Blessing Muzarabani bowled with a lot of heart but failed to make much happen. There wasn't a lot happening for the spinners as well, but Sikandar Raza did his job as usual, keeping the scoring rate down and conceding less than 4 runs an over.
Sri Lanka win by 9 wickets with 16.5 overs remaining!
Sri Lanka win! And Pathum Nissanka gets his HUNDRED! Second century for him in ODI cricket!
33.1 Wellington Masakadza to Pathum Nissanka, FOUR! NISSANKA GETS HIS HUNDRED AND SRI LANKA WIN! Full-toss bowled wide of off, Nissanka drags the slog-sweep over mid-wicket for a boundary. With this, Sri Lanka seal their place in the 2023 World Cup in India!
33.1 Wellington Masakadza to Pathum Nissanka, short and outside the tramline, WIDE called!
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