Sri Lanka defeated Zimbabwe in a high-scoring opening ODI of the three-match series on January 16 in Pallekele. The hosts overpowered a spirited Zimbabwean side, chasing down a mammoth score of 296/9 with five wickets in hand, thanks to a collective batting effort in the second half.
The run-chase proved successful largely due to a set of seventies made by the trio of opener Pathum Nissanka (75) and middle-order batters Dinesh Chandimal (75) and Charith Asalanka (71). While Nissanka laid the right foundation for the Sri Lankans, Chandimal and Asalanka ensured they guided the side through the crucial middle-overs while also keeping their team in line with the asking rate.
In the end, Zimbabwe lacked depth in their bowling unit to really put Sri Lanka under great pressure in the second half. They used as many as eight bowlers, including stand-out performer Richard Ngarava, but there was not enough quality in their attack to build inroads into the Lankan batting unit. Ngarava took three wickets for 56 runs, but the rest of the visitors’ bowling attack wasn’t up to the mark.
Earlier on, Zimbabwe won the toss and opted to bat first, nearly reaching the score of 300 thanks to a terrific hundred from middle-order giant Sean Williams (100 off 87 balls) and a superb 72 from opening batter Regis Chakabva. Zimbabwe got off to a brilliant start, with Chakabva and fellow opening batter Takudzwanashe Kaitano (42) adding 80 runs for the first-wicket stand.
After that, Williams controlled an end beautifully for Zimbabwe, but there weren’t enough contributions from the rest of the batting line-up, which perhaps cost the tourists a score in excess of 320-330 that would have forced Sri Lankans to take more risks against their bowlers during the run-chase.
Chamika Karunaratne (3/69), Nuwan Pradeep (2/54) and Jeffrey Vandersay (2/44) were amongst the wickets for Sri Lanka, while Maheesh Theekshana (0/40) bowled a miserly spell.
Brief scores
Zimbabwe 296/9 in 50 overs (Williams 100, Chakabva 72; Karunaratne 3/69) lost to Sri Lanka 300/5 in 48.3 overs (Nissanka 75, Chandimal 75; Ngarava 3/56) by 5 wickets
