Sri Lanka outplay Zimbabwe to bag T20I series 2-1

Sri Lanka captain Wanindu Hasaranga four-wicket haul helped the hosts seal the T20I series 2-1 with a nine-wicket win over Zimbabwe in the third and final match worked off at R.Premadasa Stadium,Colombo on Thursday.

Opting to bat first, Zimbabwe were seen struggling from the get go as they were bundled out for a paltry 82 runs, marking their lowest total in T20 internationals.

Sri Lanka’s bowling attack, led by Hasaranga, proved to be relentless as the all rounder ripped through Zimbabwe batting order to end with figures of 4-15.

Hasaranga’s 4-fer was backed up with a return to form by ex-skipper Angelo Mathews, who shared the new ball and finished with two wickets as well.

For the visitors Brian Bennett was the leading batter in Zimbabwe innings with 29 runs while none of the other batters impressed.

In reply, Sri Lanka were given a positive start by Kusal Mendis and Pathum Nissanka where the duo helped team reached 50 runs in the powerplay.

The duo smashed Zimbabwe bowlers all over park to out on a 64 run partnership until Mendis departed for 34 runs.

However Pathum Nissanka who had a bad tournament so far finally clicked with top scoring 39 runs while Dhananjaya de Silva remain unbeaten at 15.

The comprehensive win saw Sri Lanka bag the 3 match series 2-1.

Sri Lanka will next take on Afghanistan in a all format series starting from February 6th.

Brief Scores: Zimbabwe 82 in 14.1 overs (Brian Bennett 29; Wanindu Hasaranga 4-15, Maheesh Theekshana 2-14) lost to Sri Lanka 88/1 in 10.5 overs (Pathum Nissanka 39*, Kusal Mendis 33) by 9 wickets