Liyanage 95 gives Sri Lanka hard fought win  

Chasing 209 to win the game, Sri Lanka were in a spot of bother as left-arm seamer Richard Ngarava troubled the batsmen with extra bounce. He claimed the first four Sri Lankan wickets to fall and picked up a five for when he dismissed Maheesh Theekshana in his final over.

At 112 for six Sri Lanka were staring down the barrel, but a 56-run stand for the eighth wicket between Theekshana and Liyanage helped them to fight back.

Ngarava finished with five for 32, his career best figures.

Sri Lanka started to breath easy with Ngarava completing his ten overs, but under pressure, Liyanage tried to keep up with the required rate and attempted to clear mid-off but didn’t get the elevation needed and was dismissed five runs short of his hundred.

Liyanage was drafted into the Sri Lankan side for this series after his prolific form in domestic cricket and he debuted in the first game on Saturday before coming up with a match winning performance in the second game despite missing his hundred. His 95 came off 127 deliveries with six fours and two sixes.

When Liyanage was dismissed, Sri Lanka required 37 runs with two wickets in hand. Zimbabwe were fancying their chances but Jeffrey Vandersay (19) and Dushmantha Chameera (18) knocked off the target adding an unbroken 39 runs for the ninth wicket.

More than an hour’s play was lost due to rain during the Sri Lankan innings, but the game continued without overs being reduced.

Spin bowler Sikandar Raza backed up Ngarava claiming two for 32 in his ten overs but there wasn’t enough support from rest of the bowlers as Sri Lanka claimed a tight win.

Zimbabwe had opted to bat after winning the toss earlier and their captain Craig Ervine put up a fine effort top scoring with 82 runs.

A terrific one-handed diving catch by Sadeera Samarawickrama at extra cover helped Sri Lanka to dismiss Ervine and soon Zimbabwe were playing catch up.

From 182 for four, Zimbabwe collapsed to be 209 all out losing the last six wickets for 26 runs.

Maheesh Theekshana picked up four wickets while Chameera and Jeffrey Vandersay claimed two wickets apiece. It was a good comeback game for Vandresay.

Sri Lanka lead the three-match series 1-0. The first ODI was washed out by rain and the last game will be played on Thursday at the same venue.

Brief scores:
Zimbabwe 208 in 44.4 overs (Joylord Gumbie 30, Craig Ervine 82, Milton Shumba 26, Ryan Burl 31; Chameera Dushmantha 2-44,  Maheesh Theekshana 4-31, Jeffrey Vandersay 2-47) lost to  Sri Lanka 211/8 in 49 overs (Janith Liyanage 95, Sahan Arachchige 21, Dushmantha Chameera 18*, Jeffrey Vandersay 19*; Richard Ngarava 5-32, Sikandar Raza 2-32) by two wickets.