COLOMBO: Young batting all-rounder Janith Liyanage emerged as the difference-maker for Sri Lanka with his gutsy 95-run knock which lifted them to edge Zimbabwe in the second ODI on Monday.
Set to chase a modest 209 on the tricky surface of the Rana Premadarsa Stadium here, the home side had to grind hard to taste the victory.
Sri Lanka lost eight wickets in the process and knocked the winning runs with just six balls to spare.
The hosts had a horror start to the pursuit as they lost two wickets — Avishka Fernando and Sadeera Samarawickrama (four each) — with just 16 runs on the board in the third over.
Skipper Kusal Mendis was then joined by talented Liyanage at the crease and the pair looked to anchor the run chase with a cautious partnership.
But they could only 35 runs in 69 deliveries before Richard Ngarva got Mendis caught on 17 to halt Sri Lanka’s recovery.
The home side then began to lose wickets at regular intervals but Janith Liyanage kept the scoreboard ticking single-handedly.
The right-handed batter, however, had an agonizing end to his gritty knock as he fell just five short of his well-deserved maiden hundred.
He remained the top-scorer for Sri Lanka with a 127-ball 95 which included six boundaries and two sixes.
His dismissal had brought Zimbabwe back into the game as they only needed two more wickets while Sri Lanka were required 37 runs in 45 deliveries.
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Dushmantha Chameera and Jeffrey Vandersay, however, batted sensibly for their match-winning ninth-wicket partnership and steered their side over the line with important cameos.
Chameera scored a cautious 18 off 25 deliveries while Vandersay scored a brisk 19 off 18 balls.
Richard Ngarva led the bowling charge for Zimbabwe and picked up five wickets. Sikandar Raza bagged two wickets while Blessing Muzarabani made one scalp.
Opting to bat first, Zimbabwe could only raise 208 runs before getting bundled out in the 45th over despite Craig Ervine’s 82.
The visitors at one stage were cruising towards a big total when they were only two down with 112 runs on the board in the 25th over with Milton Shumba (26) and Ervine on strike.
However, Shumba’s dismissal off Maheesh Theekshana in the same over sparked a collapse and Zimbabwe, as a result, slipped to 182/5 in 36.5 overs when their mainstay Ervine also walked back.
Craig Ervine remained the top-scorer for Zimbabwe with an anchoring 82 off 102 deliveries, laced up with nine boundaries and a six.
Meanwhile, Zimbabwe’s collapse intensified when Ryan Burl (31), their second top-scorer, perished in the 39th over with the scoreboard reading 190/6.
The visitors lost their remaining four wickets for just 18 runs and were eventually booked on a paltry 208.
Theekshana was the pick of the bowlers for Sri Lanka, picking up four wickets while Chameera and Vandersay took two each.
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