Sri Lanka geared up for their ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup Qualifier 2023 final against the Netherlands with a comfortable eight-wicket victory over West Indies.
It was the Ninth consecutive win for the Sri Lankan cricket team in the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifiers.
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.
Victory means Sri Lanka remain unbeaten in Zimbabwe, and now face one final hurdle in Netherlands to be crowned Qualifier champions.
Openers fire Sri Lanka to victory
Pathum Nissanka hit the third ODI century of his career as Sri Lanka cruised to an eight-wicket victory over West Indies.
Nissanka hit 104 runs off 113 balls as part of a 190-run opening stand with Dimuth Karunaratne that took the game away from West Indies.
Kusal Mendis (34) and Sadeera Samarawickrama (17) did the rest to easily reach their target of 244, for which Windies had Keacy 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 and cleaned up Brandon King (10) in his second.
The spinner struck again in his third, Shamarh Brooks (2) nicking behind before captain Shai Hope (2) became his third victim from his fourth over, pinned leg before.
Opener Johnson Charles (39) was next back to the hutch an over later, trapped leg before by Matheesha Pathirana to leave Windies floundering on 62 for four.
But Carty and Nicholas Pooran (14) led the fightback, as the pair stopped the flurry of wickets until Dushan Hemantha accounted for Pooran to further drag West Indies into the mire at 81 for five.
Carty, having survived a dropped catch on nine, kept the scoreboard ticking over and dragged his side to 123 for seven by the time Sahan Arachchige bowled Kyle Mayers (18) and Hemantha trapped Roston Chase (1) leg before.
Late contributions from Romario Shepherd (26) and Kevin Sinclair (25) then pulled Windies towards 250 before Carty fell 12 balls from the end to leave his side 243 all out.
Having perhaps been disappointed to let West Indies reach almost 250, Sri Lanka began their chase quickly, bringing up 50 inside nine overs before Nissanka reached his 10th ODI half century in as many balls in the 16th over.
Opening partner Karunaratne soon followed, bringing up his 50 with four as Sri Lanka cantered towards their total.
Windies tried mightily to break the partnership, rotating through six bowlers in search of a way through, but the pair proved impenetrable as they brought up the 150 stand in the 28th over.
Nissanka then brought up his century with just under 20 overs remaining before eventually holing out to mid-wicket off the bowling of Kevin Sinclair.
But the fall of the first wicket failed to stem the flow of runs, as Mendis picked up the scoring baton, bringing up the 200 with a four before Karunaratne was trapped leg before by Akeal Hosein.
It left Mendis and Samarawickrama to bring the chase home, doing so in style with 34 balls remaining to send Sri Lanka into Sunday’s final with their unbeaten record intact.
Sri Lanka and Netherlands face off in final
After almost a month of absorbing action, the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup Qualifier 2023 comes to a close on Sunday, as Sri Lanka and the Netherlands fight it out for the right to be crowned champions.
Both sides have already claimed their main prize, a place in India next October for the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 but neither will want to end their time in Zimbabwe with defeat.
Sri Lanka were comfortable victors when the two sides met in the Super Six just over a week ago, but Netherlands are fresh from their thrilling victory over Scotland and will hope their momentum can help them to victory.
The Department of Examinations has announced that applications for re-scrutiny of the 2024 G.C.E. Ordinary Level (O/L) exam results will be accepted from July 14 to 28.
Students or parents with queries can also call the Department’s hotline 1911 or reach the School Examinations Administration and Results Branch via 0112-785922, 0112-784208, 0112-786616, or 0112-784537.
The Department has also provided all school principals with usernames and passwords to download and print the official result sheets for their schools. Provincial and Zonal Education Directors have received the same credentials to access results for all schools under their purview.
The Centre for Environmental Justice (CEJ) has urged President Anura Kumara Dissanayake to appoint a Presidential Commission to investigate the 2021 environmental disaster caused by the fire aboard the vessel MV X-Press Pearl.
In a letter dated 8 July 2025, signed by CEJ’s Senior Legal Advisor – Attorney-at-Law Ravindranath Dabare, the organisation reiterated the severity of the environmental damage caused by the incident.The CEJ expressed concern over the lack of transparency in the response by authorities, including former Ministers and government officials, and urged the President to establish a commission under the Presidential Commissions of Inquiry Law No. 7 of 1978.
The CEJ outlined two primary recommendations:
Reinstate the previously suspended committee and resume the environmental, biodiversity, and socio-economic damage assessment, ensuring the process is completed transparently and the findings are made public.
Investigate institutional misconduct and allegations of corruption during the response to the disaster, and take legal action where necessary.
The CEJ also recommended that the proposed commission include environmental scientists, legal experts, and civil society representatives to build public confidence and ensure an independent and credible process.
A group of electoral organizers and 10 senior Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) MPs have privately urged party leader – Sajith Premadasa to replace long-serving senior officials and leaders, arguing that fresh, dynamic individuals are needed to regain public support after 06 consecutive election defeats.
The group, meeting Premadasa recently, had insisted it was unfair to place blame solely on electoral organizers when the party had lost 02 Presidential Polls, 03 General Elections, and the local government election in succession.
They warned that unless the party’s top office bearers are restructured immediately, future electoral chances would be equally bleak.
Their strong appeal comes in the wake of preparations to remove several electoral organizers, citing accountability for the string of losses.
The MPs and organizers countered that the SJB had a better chance of winning more seats at the General if the Presidential election had been won, which could have been possible if they had entered a broader coalition with the UNP and other political groups.
They had also argued that Sajith Premadasa missed a crucial opportunity to strengthen his reputation when Gotabaya Rajapaksa first offered to hand over power during the 2022 crisis.
They claimed that certain economic advisors in the party discouraged him from taking on that responsibility, allowing President Ranil Wickremesinghe to build his own voter base by stepping up to the situation instead.
The group stressed that to reverse the party’s fortunes, long-standing leaders and officials must now step aside for new, energetic, youth representatives with innovative ideas.