Chandimal, Nissanka, Asalanka put Sri Lanka 1-0 up despite Williams 100
The hosts chased down Zimbabwe’s total with eight balls to spare thanks to several contributions with the bat
Dinesh Chandimal and Charith Asalanka put up a century partnership
Sri Lanka 300 for 5 (Nissanka 75, Chandimal 75, Ngarava 3-56) beat Zimbabwe 296 for 9 (Williams 100, Kaitano 42, Karunaratne 3-69) by five wickets
Zimbabwe’s batters gave their side a healthy chance. On a flat Pallekele track, the openers put on 80 off 88 balls – debutant Takudzwanashe Kaitano hitting 42, and Regis Chakabva going on to make 72 off 81. Then Sean Williams dominated the middle and late overs, hitting 100 off 87.
But although they made 296 for 9 – generally an excellent first innings score on Sri Lankan surfaces – the home side’s top order had the measure of the target. They had three major contributors. Opener Pathum Nissanka hit the first half-century of his ODI career, making 75 off 71 to set the chase up. Then No. 4 Dinesh Chandimal and No. 5 Charith Asalanka took the baton, putting on a match-defining 132-run stand, hitting 75 off 91 and 71 off off 68 respectively. In the end, they got there with five wickets and eight balls to spare.
On a surface that was not particularly conducive to turn, the seamers of both teams made bigger contributions. For Sri Lanka, Chamika Karunaratne took 3 for 69 and Nuwan Pradeep claimed 2 for 54, both bowling their full quotas. Zimbabwe’s standout was Richard Ngarava, who claimed 3 for 56 from nine overs. Blessing Muzarabani and Sikandar Raza claimed one wicket apiece.
In nine previous ODI innings, Nissanka’s high score had been 24, but batting in his preferred opening position in this match, he was efficient in the Powerplay, finding boundaries through midwicket and through cover, as Sri Lanka cruised to 59 for 1 at the end of the 10 overs. He put on a 40-run partnership with Kusal Mendis, and 41 with Kamindu Mendis, but it was during his stand with Chandimal that Sri Lanka really gained the advantage, the pair making 66 together off 66 balls.
Nissanka continued to score heavily off errors of length, and struck at a run-a-ball more or less throughout his innings, reaching his maiden ODI fifty off the 49th delivery he faced. He was out in the 25th over, edging Sikandar Raza behind, though it did take a review to dislodge him.
Sri Lanka were a batter light in this game, with Karunaratne coming in at No. 7, but their next partnership made the game safe. Chandimal had begun slowly, as he often does in ODIs, hitting just 11 off his first 22 balls, but nurdled his way into a comfortable rhythm, and even before he struck his first boundary, off his 43rd ball, looked like he would play an innings of substance.