Zimbabwe thrash Sri Lanka by 67 runs

Zimbabwe thrashed Sri Lanka by 67 runs in the second Twenty20 of the Tri-Nation T20 series at Pindi Cricket Stadium on Thursday.

Chasing a target of 163 runs, the Lankan team folded for 95 runs on the last ball of their innings.

Sri Lanka are yet to register a win on the Pakistan tour as they have already lost all three ODIs in the bilateral series against Pakistan.

This big victory took Sikander Raza’s men to the top of the table on a better run rate despite their loss to Pakistan in the first match of the series.

Zimbabwean bowlers never let the Lankan batsmen off the hook and kept striking at regular intervals.

Brad Evans was the standout bowler who took three wickets for just 9 runs in his four overs. Richard Ngarava took 2-15 while Tinotenda Maposa, Raza, Graeme Cremer and Ryan Burl all took one wicket apiece.

Lankan captain Dasun Shanka was the top scorer with 34 runs off 25 balls. The next batsman in double figures was Bhanuka Rajapaksa with 11 runs.

Earlier, Raza's blistering 47 runs off 32 balls propelled Zimbabwe to 162-8 despite Wanindu Hasaranga's economical bowling spell that jolted their middle order.

Zimbabwe got off to a shaky start to their innings as they lost their opener, Tadiwanashe Marumani (10), on the first delivery of the fourth over with just 26 runs on the board.

The African side then suffered another setback in the batting powerplay as experienced Brendan Taylor (11) was cleaned up by Eshan Malinga on the third delivery of the sixth over, resulting in them slipping to 40/2.

Following the early stutter, skipper Raza joined Bennett in the middle, and the duo anchored Zimbabwe's innings by putting together a 61-run partnership for the third wicket.

Hasaranga eventually broke the crucial partnership in the 13th over by getting rid of the opening batter, who remained the top-scorer with an anchoring 49 off 42 deliveries, featuring five fours and a six.

Raza was then involved in a brief 23-run partnership with Ryan Burl, who could score an 11-ball 18 before falling victim to Hasaranga in the 16th over, which also saw Tony Munyonga getting dismissed for a golden duck.

The back-to-back dismissals had reduced Zimbabwe to 124/5 in 15.5 overs, but Raza continued his counterattack and kept them in a decent position by the end of 17 overs.

The all-rounder's grit eventually culminated on the first delivery of the 18th over when he fell victim to Dushamantha Chameera, courtesy of a splendid catch by his Sri Lanka counterpart, Shanaka.

Tashinga Musekiwa then added valuable runs at the backend, scoring a seven-ball 11 before falling victim to Malinga in the penultimate over.

Hasaranga was the pick of the bowlers for Sri Lanka, taking three wickets for 32 runs in his four overs, followed by Malinga with two, while Maheesh Theekshana and Chameera made one scalp apiece.