Madushanka hat-trick seals the deal for Sri Lanka

In a match that went down to the wire, Sri Lanka pulled off a thrilling seven runs win against Zimbabwe to go one-up in the two-match ODI series played at Harare SC grounds yesterday thanks largely to a fantastic last over from Dilshan Madushanka who produced a hat-trick to turn the game that was going Zimbabwe’s way on its head.

Madushanka had bowled poorly till the last over being hit for 60 runs off his first nine but then he got a hat-trick to seal the game in Sri Lanka’s leaving Sikander Raza standing near the boundary with his pads on and looking distraught. Raza’s valiant knock of 92 off 87 balls (8 fours) and his partnership of 128 with Tony Munyonga (43* off 52 balls, 1 four) had virtually carried Zimbabwe to the doorstep of victory. It was Raza’s wicket at the fag-end which cost Zimbabwe the game. He batted beautifully, shepherding the strike and hitting boundaries whenever needed. Earlier, Zimbabwe started badly as they lost Brian Bennett and Brendan Taylor in the first over to Asitha Fernando. But a fine stand between Ben Curran and Sean Williams of 118 set Zimbabwe back on the path. They were ahead and giving Sri Lanka headaches when Williams fell to the sweep. A couple of quick wickets followed and it was Sri Lanka who were on top then. But Raza and Munyonga paced the chase quite well. Excellent death bowling from the trio of Sri Lanka pacers ensured that the game went to the last over. Despite having an extra fielder inside the ring in the last two overs, Sri Lanka came through.

Earlier Sri Lanka invited to bat first lost Nishan Madushka for a duck. Richard Ngarava and Blessing Muzarabani were brilliant with the new ball to keep a tight lid on the scoring rate. Pathum Nissanka (76 off 92 balls, 12 fours) and Kusal Mendis (38) forged a century partnership to set the foundation. But Sri Lanka once again slipped a bit in the middle overs as they were reduced to 161/5 in the 37th over, thanks to some tight bowling from the spinners Raza and Sean Williams. But Zimbabwe let Sri Lanka off the hook towards the death. An outstanding 137-run partnership off just 83 deliveries between Janith Liyanage (70* off 47 balls, 6 fours, 3 sixes) and Kamindu Mendis (57 off 36 balls, 4 fours, 2 sixes) took Sri Lanka to an above-par total. Both the batters notched up their fifties in quick time as 100 runs were scored off the last eight overs. It was a combination of good ball-striking, ordinary bowling and poor fielding.

Madushanka took the Player of the Match award. The second ODI will be played at the same venue  tomorrow.