Captain Tillakaratne Dilshan cracked an unbeaten 60 to lead Sri Lanka to a comprehensive nine-wicket victory over Zimbabwe in a rain-curtailed one-dayer in the tri-nation series here on Tuesday.
Chasing 119 for a win from 26 overs, Dilshan took the inexperienced Zimbabwe bowlers to the cleaners with his 45-ball innings which contained seven fours and a six.
He was given able support by his opening partner Upul Tharanga (37-ball 40) as Sri Lanka romped home with 10.4 overs to spare at the Queens Sports Club here.
Earlier, off-spinner Suraj Randiv led a disciplined Sri Lankan bowling charge with three scalps to skittle Zimbabwe out for 118 in 24.5 overs after Dilshan won the toss and inserted the home side.
The match was reduced to a 26-over affair after the start was delayed by more than four hours due to rain. Tharanga and Dilshan, who stitched an 86-run opening stand, almost clinched the issue for Sri Lanka, but the opening combo came to an end when wicketkeeper Brendan Taylor found Tharanga short of the crease in the 11th over.
Tharanga cracked six fours during his breezy innings.
Dinesh Chandimal (10 not out) then paired up with Dilshan to complete the formalities as Sri Lanka reached 119/1 in 15.2 overs. After this win, Lanka are on level with the other two teams with two points each. — PTI
Scores: Zimbabwe 118 in 24.5 overs (Masakadza 62; Fernando 2/24, Randiv 2/23, Jeevan Mendis 2/12) lost to Sri Lanka 119/1 in 18.2 overs (Dilshan 60 n.o., Tharanga 40)