Sri Lanka (Commonwealth) _ Sri Lanka defeated Zimbabwe by 8 wickets to win the series 2-0 on Thursday in a rain-shortened match. Hasaranga humbled Zimbabwe with his career-best performance. He tore apart Zimbabwe’s batting order with his venomous bowling, taking 7 wickets to reduce Zimbabwe to 96 runs, which Sri Lanka comfortably chased down.
Prior to his comeback following injuries and surgery, Wanindu Hasaranga led the 2023 LPL with the most runs, wickets, bowling average, economy rate, batting strike rate, bowling stats, sixes, and quickest scoring.
He also led the winning team, B-Love Kandy, and was voted Player of the Tournament. His outstanding performance in the Twenty20 competition earned him high expectations for the World Cup. Unfortunately, an injury and subsequent surgery kept him out of the competition. He returned to participate in the Major Clubs Limited Over Tournament, taking five wickets and 43 runs in two matches for the Colombo Cricket Club.
Meanwhile, Sri Lanka Cricket chose him as their new T20I skipper. Hasaranga missed the first two ODIs against Zimbabwe in the home series, which Sri Lanka won 1-0 following a rain-shortened encounter.
He reappeared for the last ODI, which was limited to 27 overs per side. As a result, two bowlers were restricted to six overs apiece, while the others were limited to five overs. He stepped on as the fifth bowler in the ninth over of the contest and bowled Takudzwanashe Kaitano with his sixth ball, sparking a 10-ball sequence in which he grabbed three wickets for four runs.
At one time, his stats were 4.5-1-8-5, but a no-ball went for two, and Luke Jongwe struck a six to ‘ruin’ Hasaranga’s numbers. Kusal Mendis removed him, but he returned to take the final two wickets and finish with 5.5-1-19-7, the fifth-best bowling statistics in men’s ODIs.
Zimbabwe was knocked out for 96 in 22.5 overs. Two downpours reduced the game to 27 overs each side, but the visitors still fell short as Hasaranga, who missed six months of cricket due to a hamstring injury in July, sliced through their batting with his googly.
Zimbabwe had a strong start, with the openers putting up 43 for the first wicket. Hasaranga resumed the attack in the ninth over of the game, following the first rain break, and took opener Takudzwanashe Kaitano’s wicket on his sixth delivery to make a crucial breakthrough. Hasaranga returned two more in his following over as Zimbabwe fell to 47-3.
The tourists were unable to recover as Hasaranga cleaned off the tail, his fourth innings of five or more wickets. Hasaranga’s score sets a new record at R Premadasa Stadium, surpassing Angelo Mathews’ 6-20 against India in 2009. It was also the second greatest ODI stats by a Sri Lankan bowler, trailing only Chaminda Vaas’ 8-19.
The first game was rained out, while Sri Lanka won the second by two wickets. Sri Lanka defeated Zimbabwe by 8 wickets to win the series 2-0 on Thursday (11th January) in a rain-shortened match. Hasaranga humbled Zimbabwe with his career-best performance.
Zimbabwe won the toss and decided to bat first. Coming out to bat, they were all at sea against Wanindu Hasaranga. However, Hasaranga’s seven wickets were enough to dismiss Zimbabwe for 96 runs.
In response Sri Lanka’s top order batter, debutant Daniel shevan was scratchy, scoring 12 from 28 balls. Fernando went for a four-ball duck when Avishka was away. But Kusal Mendis showed little respect for the opponents, starting to smoke things about the park from the start of his innings. He hit an impressive 66 off 51 deliveries. Samarawickrama had to provide the closing touch, and he did it admirably with 14* off 17 balls to lead his team home with 8 wickets remaining. With the win, Sri Lanka won the ODI series 2-0, and the T20 series will begin on January 14.
