T20 World Cup warm-ups: Sri Lanka secures 33-run win against Zimbabwe

Sri Lanka started their ICC Men’s T20 World Cup campaign on a bright note as they registered a comprehensive 33-run win against Zimbabwe in their warm-up match in Melbourne on Tuesday.

The Sri Lankan openers Kusal Mendis and Pathum Nissanka got their team off to a flying start as they put on a 57-run stand in just five overs. The partnership was broken when Brad Evans dismissed Nissanka for 21 but Mendis carried on and made his way to a fifty.

Mendis was threatening to take the game completely away from Zimbabwe but Ryan Burl gave them a much-needed breakthrough as he had the Sri Lankan batter caught for a well-made 29-ball 54. The 27-year-old hit six fours and three sixes during the course of his knock.

Zimbabwe made a comeback into the game for a brief period as they claimed some quick wickets to reduce Sri Lanka to 133/5 at the end of the 16th over. But Wanindu Hasaranga played an excellent cameo of 37* off just 14 deliveries to take Sri Lanka’s total to 188/5.

The chase was going to be a challenging one for Zimbabwe but a good start to their innings kept them in the hunt. The openers put on 39 runs in just three overs and after reaching a score of 61/2 in seven overs, they looked well on course towards their target. But the match kept slipping away from them after that as the Lankan bowlers bowled tight lines and lengths.

Wesley Madhevere scored a run-a-ball 42 and that halted the momentum of Zimbabwe’s innings in the middle overs. Lower-order batter Milton Shumba tried his best to get them close to the target with a 25-ball 32 but it wasn’t enough for Zimbabwe as they still fell short by 33 runs.

As far as the Sri Lankan bowling goes, Hasaranga bowled an economical spell of 4-0-22-0 after his flamboyant knock of 37*, whereas Maheesh Theekshana and Chamika Karunaratne claimed a couple of wickets each.