After the two nail-biting thrillers between the teams, Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe locked horns with each other in the third match of the three-match series. The series decider between the teams took place at the R.Premadasa Stadium in Colombo.
Sri Lanka won the toss and opted to field first. Their decision to bowl paid off staggeringly well as the bowlers were all over the Zimbabwe batters. Angelo Mathews drew the first blood of his team on the second ball as he sent the hero of the last game Craig Ervine for the duck.
Tinashe Kamunhukamwe (12) and Brian Bennett (29) added 35 runs for the second wicket and it seemed that Zimbabwe was right on the track but Mathews struck once again and removed the latter to jolt the visitors with a second blow.
The introduction of spin then completely shifted the game in Sri Lanka’s favor. Sean Williams (15) and skipper Sikander Raza (10) tried to settle and bail the team out of trouble but it didn’t happen as bowlers made sure that they put pressure on the batters.
After the wicket of the experienced duo, Sri Lanka bowlers were all over the batters and picked the remaining wickers in a jiffy. They spun a web around the batters and bundled them out for just 82 runs with over 5 and a half overs remaining.
Skipper Wanindu Hasaranga led from the front and picked four wickets and returned with the figures of 4/15. Apart from him, Maheesh Theekshana and veteran Angelo Mathews picked two wickets each. Dilshan Madushanka and Dhananjaya de Silva bagged one scalp each.
SL vs ZIM Scorecard, 3rd T20I Highlights: Sri Lanka chase the target with 9 wickets in hand and seal the series 2-1
Sri Lanka had a watchful start in the chase and made sure that they didn’t lose wickets early. Pathum Nissanka and Kusal Mendis were right on the money in the powerplay and gave a solid start to the team, adding 50 runs in the first 6 overs.
The duo was going great guns before Sean Williams removed Kusal Mendis in the 8th over. He bowled a delivery that turned past the edge and hit the off-pole to send back the opening batter. The keeper-batted scored 33 runs off 27 balls and provided a great start to the team.
Pathum Nissanka on the other hand continued batting aggressively. He hit some lusty blows in his innings and ended with the innings of unbeaten 39 runs off 23 balls. Dhananjaya de Silva (15*), who came at 3, took time to settle but hit some boundaries in the end. Sri Lanka completed a comfortable 9-wicket win with 9.1 overs to spare.
Sri Lanka clinched the series by a margin of 2-1. They emerged victorious in the first game as they chased the target of 143 runs with 3 wickets in hand. The second game was nothing short of exceptional as it went down the wire and saw Zimbabwe chasing 20 runs in the last over to level the series.
Brief scores
Zimbabwe: 82-10 (Brian Bennet 29; Wanindu Hasaranga 4/15)
Sri Lanka: 88-1 (Pathum Nissanka 39; Sean Williams 1/13)
