Sri Lanka secured a five-wicket one-day international victory against Zimbabwe in Harare on Sunday, winning with three balls remaining and clinching the series 2-0.Pathum Nissanka, the 27-year-old right-hand opener, scored his seventh ODI century with 122 runs off 136 balls, including 16 fours.Nissanka and captain Charith Asalanka formed a crucial 90-run partnership for the fourth wicket, bringing Sri Lanka to 236-4 with 33 balls left.Sri Lanka successfully chased Zimbabwe’s total of 277-7, reaching 278-5 and securing their second consecutive ODI series win following a 2-1 victory over Bangladesh.Nissanka’s outstanding performance, including his 76 runs in the first ODI, earned him the player of the series award.“It has been a little while since I have been among the runs in one-day internationals, so I am glad I was able to score some here. I wanted to do well for the team and I trusted myself. It was tougher to bat during the powerplay and the Zimbabwe bowlers performed well,” said Nissanka.“I wanted to see a big hundred and Pathum supplied that. Both teams fought hard. I just told the team to do the basics well. Young players are doing a good job for the team. I asked the batters to play with less risk and to run hard. They did.”“The series could have gone differently. It could have been 1-1. Today we missed an opportunity to be more aggressive when batting in the middle overs. The small chances make a bit difference at the end of the day,” said Zimbabwe captain Sean Williams.Nissanka’s innings ended when substitute Wessly Madhevere caught his pull shot past deep mid-wicket.Asalanka’s innings concluded in the penultimate over when Brian Bennett caught his skied delivery.Zimbabwe bowlers Richard Ngarava and Brad Evans took two wickets each, conceding 53 and 54 runs respectively.Ben Curran contributed 79 runs while Sikandar Raza remained unbeaten at 59 in Zimbabwe’s innings after being put in to bat.Sri Lankan fast bowler Dushmantha Chameera was the most successful bowler, taking three wickets for 52 runs, dismissing Bennett, Tony Munyonga, and Evans.
