ZIM vs SL | Twitter laud Lankan Lions as Nissanka century and lower order take help them claim series

‌Sri Lanka won the toss and chose to field in the last game of the ODI series, but did not have the best start with the ball as Brian Bennet and Ben Curran were looking good at the crease. Though the 50+ stand between was looking good until Dushmantha Chameera knocked over Bennet’s stumps in the tenth over, the Chevrons were still at a solid position at 55/1. Despite losing a wicket in the last over of the powerplay, Curran continued to add some runs to the total and was supported by Brendan Taylor at the other end. The two batters were looking set at the crease until the 61-run stand was finally broken by Janith Liyanage in the 24th over. While the wicket might have given some confidence to the Lankans, the hosts were still in a strong position at 118/2 after 25 overs. With Curran set at the crease and eight wickets in hand, a big score was looking on the cards until Asitha Fernando changed the complexion of the game in the 32nd over with the two big scalps of Curran on 79, and cleaned up the Zimbabwe skipper Sean Williams on the last delivery. The situation went from bad to worse as Tony Munyonga was dismissed by Dilshan Madhushanka in the 38th over as the hosts lost half their side. Even though there were a few good-looking shots by Sikandar Raza towards the end of the second power play, the team was still in a tricky position at 194/5 after 40 overs. As things started to look bad for the home team, Sikandar Raza’s unbeaten knock of 59 off 55 deliveries and a crucial cameo from Clive Madande made sure the team reached a competitive score of 277/7 in the end. 

The surface was challenging for the Lankan openers Pathum Nissanka and Nuwanidu Fernando, who took a cautious approach in the first five overs to negate the early seam movement and made up for the sluggish start in the last few overs to finish on a score of 45/0 after 10 overs. However, as soon as the field restrictions were removed, Brad Evans got the hosts back in the game by knocking over Fernando’s off stump with a beauty and dismissing Kusal Mendis in the 15th over. Though the two wickets did manage to dry up the runs for a while, Nissanka, along with Sadeera Samarawickram, built an important third-wicket stand. The two batters made sure that runs came at a steady rate and took the score to 122/2 at the halfway stage. Both started to score runs at a brisk pace after the first half, until there was a ray of hope for the hosts as the partnership of 78 was finally broken in the 31st over by debutante Ernest Masuku, who got the important wicket of Samarawickrama. However, the dismissal did not cause much damage, as Nissanka continued to take the game as deep as possible and got some great support from Sri Lanka skipper Charith Asalanka at the other end. As another great partnership was formed, the victory was in Sri Lanka's grasp with the score reading 211/3 after 40, and the visiting team needing  67 off the remaining 60 balls. While it seemed like they would cruise to an easy win, Richard Ngarava brought the game back in the balance after dismissing Nissanka after an incredible knock of 122. The Chevrons had given themselves a chance to win the game as the runs suddenly dried up towards the end. Unfortunately, their efforts went in vain as the Lankans finished the game with three balls to spare and five wickets remaining to claim the series.