Opening stand of 229 sinks Zimbabwe
DANUSHKA Gunathilaka and Niroshan Dickwella hit superb centuries to steer Sri Lanka to an eight-wicket victory against Zimbabwe in the third one-day international of the series – giving them a 2-1 lead.
The tourists, batting first, made 310-8 with Hamilton Masakadza hitting a hundred, but it was not enough as Gunathilaka and Dickwella put on a firstwicket stand of 229 to take the game away from the visitors.
Two quick wickets with ten overs to go threatened to derail Sri Lanka’s chase, but Kusal Mendis and Upul Tharanga steadied the ship and a 75-run stand saw them complete victory.
Zimbabwe have it all to do with two matches to go as they look to avoid a series defeat – and they must win tomorrow’s match if they are to take the series into a decider.
Dickwella said: “It’s a great feeling to get my first hundred. Playing in Sri Lanka, making my first century in front of our crowd is a great feeling. It is a great privilege batting with Gunathilaka as well.
“We just wanted to keep the run-rate under six and 6.5. We were just batting out the overs, not talking much, not thinking much.”
The away side started well at the Mahinda Rajapaksa International Cricket Stadium, even though Nuwan Pradeep dismissed Solomon Mire for 13.
Masakadza and Tarisai Musakanda (48) put on 127 for the second wicket before Asela Gunaratne dismissed the latter caught behind.
In response Sri Lanka looked to be cruising to the target as openers Gunathilaka and Dickwella smashed 116 and 102 runs respectively.
But when Malcolm Waller and Sean Williams dismissed the opening pair, the tourists sensed they could be on for their second victory of the series.
However the experience of Tharanga and Mendis kept Sri Lanka in control and it was left to the No.4 to hit the winnings runs and he creamed a boundary off the bowling of Mire.
Graeme Cremer, the Zimbabwe captain said: “I thought we had enough runs on the board. We might have slowed down between 30 to 40, but we picked it up after that. It was a good wicket, and the openers did take the game away from us.”