Sri Lanka trounce Zimbabwe to stay in hunt for final

Sri Lanka extracted revenge for their loss last week to Zimbabwe with a resounding win that has kept them alive in the hunt for a place in the tri-series final. After restricting Zimbabwe to just 146/5, Sri Lanka chased it down with almost four overs to spare, with Pathum Nissanka smashing an unbeaten 98 off just 58 balls.

Opting to bat first, Zimbabwe received a jolt very early when Maheesh Theekshana dismissed Tadiwanashe Marumani and Dion Myers in successive overs. Zimbabwe recovered in the PowerPlay on the back of some excellent batting from Brian Bennett, who raced to 22 off 12 at one point. Sikandar Raza then steadied the innings alongside Bennett after Dasun Shanaka removed Brendan Taylor. On the back of their partnership, Zimbabwe positioned themselves well at 85/2 after 12 overs.

However, all the good work was undone when Wanindu Hasaranga struck in back-to-back overs to remove both set batters. The onus was once again on Ryan Burl to rescue Zimbabwe at the death. Having smashed a fifty in the last game, Burl was at it again, finding the boundaries at regular intervals to finish unbeaten on 37. But with no support at the other end, Zimbabwe could only finish with a middling total.

For Sri Lanka to go past Zimbabwe's NRR, they had to chase down the target in the PowerPlay, which was never going to happen. But Nissanka still batted in belligerent fashion and found the boundary off four successive deliveries in the fifth over to help Sri Lanka go past 50 in the powerplay. The stuttering Kamil Mishara was dismissed by Brad Evans, but Nissanka continued to wreak havoc. Clearing the ropes twice in an over off Richard Ngarava, Nissanka fancied getting a hundred. While he did make a valiant effort with a flurry of boundaries, he eventually fell two runs short. Sri Lanka will now have to beat hosts Pakistan in the final league game in order to face them again in the final.

Brief scores: Zimbabwe 146/5 in 20 overs (Ryan Burl 37*, Sikandar Raza 37; Wanindu Hasaranga 2/23, Maheesh Theekshana 2/23) lost to Sri Lanka 148/1 in 16.2 overs (Pathum Nissanka 98*; Brad Evans 1/36) by 9 wickets