Zimbabwe vs Sri Lanka, Tri-Nation Series 2016, 1st ODI at Harare: Visitors seal easy victory by 8 wickets

Sri Lanka registered an easy victory over Zimbabwe by 8 wickets and with a bonus point in the opening match of the Tri-Nation series

Sri Lanka completed the formality of chasing down the target of 155 runs in just 24.3 against the misfiring Zimbabwe in the opening match of the Tri-Nation series keeping in hand 8 wickets. Dhanajaya de Silva was the top scorer for the tourists as he remained unbeaten on 77 from 73 deliveries which anchored the run chase and was well supported by wicket-keeper batsman Niroshan Dickwella who scored41  from 38 balls to share the work responsibility. With this win, Sri Lanka also received a bonus point as they completed the run chase in just 24.3 overs whereas the target to win the bonus point was to chase down the total in 40 overs. FULL CRICKET SCORECARD: Zimbabwe vs Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe tri-nation series 2016-17, 1st ODI at Harare

Sri Lanka were expected to win this encounter in the easiest of the manner and they did not disappoint anyone as they were the pure dominators of this first One-Day International of the Tri-Nation series which consists of hosts Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka and West Indies. Sri Lanka has already defeated the hosts in the Test series of two Tests thanks to brilliant bowling and captaincy from the Sri Lankan veteran Rangana Herath who scalped 13 wickets in the second and the final Test to register the whitewash.LIVE UPDATES OF THE Zimbabwe vs Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe tri-nation series 2016-17, 1st ODI at Harare

In today’s match, the ODI skipper of Sri Lanka, Upul Tharanga opted to field first as the wicket had a lot to offer to the pacers. And the visitor’s fast bowling department justified their captain’s decision as they kept on removing the Zimbabwean batsmen one after the other. It was a responsible knock of 47 runs from 52 balls from Zimbabwe wicketkeeper Peter Moor which made sure that the hosts crossed the 100 run mark while Graeme Cremer’s unbeaten knock of 31 runs from 56 balls took the Zimbabwe total to 154.

The Sri Lankan batsmen never looked in any kind of pressure and kept scoring runs at almost more than 6 RPO. The Sri Lankan run chase consisted of total 23 boundaries in total which displays how much at ease the Sri Lankan batsmen were on the crease during their time. The visitors lost their opener Kusal Perera at the team’s score of 56. Sikandar Raza took a magnificent catch in the deep to dismiss Perera. But despite this, the visitors still continued to score runs in a flurry as they had already settled in and had no problems at all. The second wicket for the Lankan’s was of Dickwella who tried to go uppish and go for a big one but in the end holed out a high catch inside the 30 yards circle.

Back in the first innings, it was debutant Asela Gunaratne who claimed 3 wickets to stop hosts at just 154 runs. With this victory, Sri Lanka have made a good start for the series and they would be hoping the same with the winning momentum that they have received from the Test series win and this first match victory.

Brief Scores:

Zimbabwe 154 all out in 41.3 overs (Peter Moor 47, Graeme Cremer 31*; Asela Gunaratne 3 for 21) lost vs Sri Lanka (Dhanajaya de Silva 78*, Niroshan Dickwella 41; Tinashe Panyangara 1 for 37) by 8 wickets