Zimbabwe rode on opener’s Hamilton Masakaza’s 111 to score 310/8 in 50 overs.
After being put into bat by Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe lost Mire early in the innings but a partnership of 127 runs for the second wicket between Hamilton Masakadza and Tarisai Musakanda provided the visitors with some resistance.
The two batsmen looked strong at the crease before Musakanda gave a catch to Upul Tharanga when he was at 48. few overs later, Masakadza too gave away his wicket after Nuwan Pradeep took a good running catch at fine leg region while the right-handed batsman tried to slog Hasaranga.
Hosts Sri Lanka bounced back and put breaks on the scoring rate after chipping in with two quick wickets. Zimbabwe were reduced to 206/4 but another decent partnership between Sean Ervine and Malcolm Waller was enough to setup a score of runs on the board. Ervine was cleaned up by Gunaratane for 43.
For Sri Lanka, Hasaranga and Gunaratne were once again among the wickets as the two scalped two wickets apiece.
Sean Ervine too chipped in with 43 runs but it was Peter Moor’s cameo in the end that guided the visiting team to the total. He compiled a total of 27 runs in 11 balls including two back to back maximums off Sandakan.
Indian Express
