Sri Lanka lastly discovered the spark they’d been trying to find within the tri-series, clinching a nine-wicket win over Zimbabwe in Rawalpindi to remain in competition for a spot within the ultimate. Pathum Nissanka was the distinction maker together with his unbeaten 98 off 58 balls, guiding Sri Lanka to a snug chase of 147 with 22 balls to spare. After 5 straight T20I losses, the island nation lastly ended on the profitable facet.
Put into bat, Zimbabwe acquired off to a poor begin courtesy of Maheesh Theekshana. The spinner, recalled for this must-win conflict, bowled an excellent new-ball spell that eliminated Tadiwanashe Marumani and Dion Myers early.
Brian Bennett and Brendan Taylor tried to stabalize, however Taylor could not rating at a excessive price, whereas Bennett stored the board ticking, however departed for 34.
Sikandar Raza stitched collectively a stand with Bennett and later tried to push the innings. His 37 off 29 pushed the overall to a 160-plus rating. Wanindu Hasaranga struck twice in fast succession to take away each Bennett and Raza. Ryan Burl’s fast unbeaten 37 gave Zimbabwe a decent 146 for five.
Chasing 147, Nissanka guided Sri Lanka to 64 for 1 in six overs. Kamil Mishara’s dismissal for 12 didn’t gradual issues down. With Kusal Mendis rotating strike on the different finish, Nissanka stored scoring runs throughout the bottom. Nissanka’s eleven fours and 4 sixes completed the chase in 16.2 overs, however the batter remained simply two runs wanting his second T20I century.
“My plan was to play effectively within the powerplay the place we struggled earlier than, I used to be in a position to get by way of that and proceed my batting. I analyzed a number of areas the place I used to be going improper, I corrected these and it got here off at the moment. It isn’t straightforward to play all three codecs and adapt to them. Within the observe classes, I observe in another way for every format. (On his favorite six at the moment) I feel the news shot,” Nissanka mentioned on the post-match interview.
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