Carty hits career-best as West Indies bow out
Sri Lanka v West Indies
Super Sixes – One Day International – ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifiers
Venue: Harare Sports Club
Toss: Sri Lanka won the toss and bowled
Result: Sri Lanka win by 8 wickets
Scorecard: https://bit.ly/slvwicwcq
Harare, Zimbabwe – A career high score from West Indian batsman Keacy Carty was not enough to stop Sri Lanka from remaining unbeaten going into the finals of the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifiers. A century from Pathum Nissanka guided the table toppers to victory with 5.4 overs to spare.
Sri Lanka won the toss and decided to bowl and made Carty (87 from 96 balls) was the standout of the innings, hitting six fours and a six in a classy batting display. His ninth wicket partnership of 63 with Kevin Sinclair (25 from 36 balls) was particularly impressive.
Johnson Charles (39 from 38) and Romario Shepherd (26 rom 21) were the other notable performances with the bat for the Men in Maroon.
While the West Indies came out with some enthusiasm in the field, the opening pair for Sri Lanka remained steadfast and all but guaranteed their team positive result. Nissanka (104 from 113 balls) and Dimuth Karunaratne (83 from 92) put on an opening stand of 190 before Sinclair (1-52) finally got the breakthrough for the West Indies men in the 34th over.
Akeal Hosein (1-54) followed up by dismissing Karunaratne three overs later, before Kusal Mendis (34 not out from 43) and Sadeera Samarawickrama (17 not out from 18) came in to see the game home for Sri Lanka.
This was the second defeat for West Indies in the Super Sixes campaign and they ended on two points. Their one victory was against Oman on Wednesday.
Speaking to CWI Media after the match, Keacy Carty said
“It was a wonderful feeling to finally raise my bat for the crest. Sadly, I didn’t get the hundred, but I was more so playing for a bigger total for the team, to put us in a better position. We however need to come together as a batting unit to put more runs on the board and give the bowlers a better chance at defending those runs.”
The West Indies will now turn their attention to the start of the ICC World Test Championship, which begins on 12 July the Cycle Pure Agarbathi Test Series powered by YES Bank. The first Test will be played at Windsor Park in Dominica. The second match will be the 100th Test between the two teams and will be played at Queens Park Oval Trinidad from 20 July.
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