Zimbabwe won the toss and elected to bat in the third and the final ODI against Sri Lanka, played at the R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo on Thursday (Jan.11).

Shevon Daniel makes his debut today for Sri Lanka in ODI cricket. 

Upon winning the toss, the Chevrons’s captain Craig Ervine said: “We will have a bat first and hopefully we will utilize the evening conditions as they have been suiting the fast bowlers. We have been setting a good platform for ourselves but haven’t gone the distance. We were quite short with the total that we set in that game and I feel around 250-260 should have been enough. Our bowlers showed great character with the ball.”

Meanwhile, Sri Lanka captain Kusal Mendis said: “I’m very happy to bowl first here. We are playing in the same wicket that was used in the first game. Shevon Daniel makes his debut. We trust our  bowling a lot more and with Hasaranga coming in we are hoping that we can keep the ZImbabweans down to a low score.”

The rain-enforced abandoned first ODI gave enough evidence of a cracking series. And Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe reaffirmed the same a couple of days later as they played out a low-scoring thriller.

The hosts eventually came up trumps but not before being made to hustle and scrap hard for victory. A chase of 209 looked done and dusted at 112/6 before Janith Liyanage, in just his second game in the format, produced an innings to remember. His 95 was churned out with the help of able lower-order resistance - something that played an instrumental role in Sri Lanka getting the job done despite Liyanage departing with the team still 37 runs shy of the target.

Sri Lanka cannot lose the series now but on the back of a disappointing World Cup, they would want nothing but a win to boost some confidence as they seek to build towards the 2027 edition. Zimbabwe have shown that they can compete but they must capture the key moments.

Along expected lines, the Chevrons have stood up with the ball, bettering an impressive display in the first game a couple of days later. They will rue not closing it out but truth be told, their bowlers did a tremendous job with the score they had to work with as Richard Ngarava continued his purple patch with a five-wicket haul while Blessing Muzarabani and Sikandar Raza were as efficient as ever.

The team was placed solidly with the bat on 114/2 thanks to skipper Craig Ervine, who produced a fluent 82. Joylord Gumbie looked the part himself for his score of 30 but the rest came crashing down as Maheesh Theekshana spun a web around the middle-order.

The positive though is a big Raza score is never far away and today could well be the day he produces one. Ryan Burl and Milton Shumba got starts in the last game and if they can sustain that for longer and produce bigger scores, there is reason for the visitors to believe that they can turn things around.

As for Sri Lanka, their bowlers did a splendid job of their own even if Theekshana, Dushmantha Chameera and Jeffrey Vandersay grabbed headlines for their batting vigil. Chameera and Dilshan Madushanka remain potent options with the new ball while Theekshana can operate across phases. The challenge for skipper Kusal Mendis is the fifth bowler’s quota and the way he split them between four options was a throwback to the early 2000s. That is where Zimbabwe must look to put one of the frontline bowlers under pressure though to leave the hosts clutching at straws.

The hosts will not want batting collapses like that in the 2nd ODI to repeat, although in Mendis, Sadeera Samarawickrama and Charith Asalanka, they have a solid core to fall back upon. Dasun Shanaka needs a score, much like Avishka Fernando with Pathum Nissanka set to walk back in for the next series once he recovers from illness.

Sri Lanka may just nudge ahead as slight favorites again on account of playing at home. But Zimbabwe must believe that they can draw level. They may not be able to win the series but drawing one in Sri Lanka is no mean feat either.

Sri Lanka Playing XI: Avishka Fernando, Kusal Mendis (c and wk), Shevon Daniel, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Janith Liyanage, Charith Asalanka, Sahan Arachchige, Wanindu Hasaranga, Maheesh Theekshana, Dushmantha Chameera, Dilshan Madushanka

Zimbabwe Playing XI: Joylord Gumbie (wk), Takudzwanashe Kaitano, Craig Ervine (c), Milton Shumba, Sikandar Raza, Ryan Burl, Clive Madande, Wellington Masakadza, Luke Jongwe, Richard Ngarava, Blessing Muzarabani

--With inputs from SportsKeeda