The first two matches ended with dramatic finishes, but this was a cakewalk for Sri Lanka. With Wanindu Hasaranga‘s 4 for 15, Sri Lanka defeated Zimbabwe by 9 wickets in the third T20I at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo, securing the three-match series 2-1.
Pitch Report and Team Update
Wanindu Hasaranga, the skipper of Sri Lanka, won the toss and decided to field first as the pitch in Colombo was a slow deck given to turn and Sri Lanka had some quality spin attack.
Sri Lanka made a couple of changes as Kamindu Mendis and Dhananjaya de Silva came in place of Charith Asalanka and Kusal Perera, while Zimbabwe made one change to their side as Tony Munyonga replaced Ryan Burl.
Brian Bennett got Zimbabwe off to a good start
When put in to bat, Angelo Mathews dismissed Craig Ervine, the top scorer in the previous game, for a first-ball duck. Still, Brian Bennett unleashed an assault from the first over, particularly against Dilshan Madhushanka, hitting four successive boundaries off the left-arm pacer’s opening over.
Seven early boundaries came from Brian Bennett; all fours came from drives of one kind or another. Part of the reason for this is that Sri Lanka’s fast bowlers pitched full deliveries in an attempt to find swing. However, a nice off-cutter from Mathews ended his brief stay in the next over when he fumbled a lofted shot to mid-on.
In the powerplay, Maheesh Theekshana also ended Tinashe Kamunhukamwe’s arduous stay, bringing the visitors down to 52 for 3 by the sixth over.
Zimbabwe’s middle order collapsed against Wanindu Hasaranga
Zimbabwe’s middle and lower orders were particularly weak in this game, in contrast to their two previous matches, where they had demonstrated a bit of determination at the bat. The middle order collapsed as they lost their last six wickets for only 11 runs.
Tony Munyonga was the first to mis-hitting a Wanindu Hasaranga’s ball to the recently set-up midwicket fielder in the 10th over. Sean Williams was next caught and bowled by De Silva, and Wanindu Hasaranga then had the match’s hero, Luke Jongwe, caught at deep square leg following a top-edged sweep.
Wanindu Hasaranga struck two googlies off his final two balls in his following over. Wellington Masakadza was hit in front of the stumps. Ngarava Richard was bowled. In the first ball of the next over, Theekshana caught Clive Madande sweeping, completing the team hat-trick.
Kusal Mendis and Pathum Nissanka set the game for Sri Lanka during powerplay
Despite the fact that Ngarava and Blessing Muzarabani have been superb with the new ball during the tour, Sri Lanka was always going to try to shatter Zimbabwe’s morale early, given the short chase. In the first two overs of Ngarava’s innings, the openers struck three fours.
Off Muzarabani’s second over, the fourth of the innings, they each hit a legside four. Then, Mendis pulled Wellington Masakadza apart and, with a lucky top edge off the sixth over, he dispatched Ngarava for six. Following the first six, they were 50 for no loss.
Sean Williams’s turner, which missed Mendis’ bat and knocked the stumps, quickly cleaned him out at 33. Nissanka and Dhanajaya de Silva ensured that there were no further problems, with the former slogsweeping Sikandar Raza for a six to put his side across the line with 55 balls remaining.
Also Read: SL vs ZIM: Sri Lanka’s Last-Ball Heroics Seal Victory Over Zimbabwe