2484dThe Report by Andrew Fidel Fernando

Gunathilaka, Dickwella thrash Zimbabwe

Sri Lanka's openers put on 229 and hit their maiden ODI hundreds in the same match as they hacked down a 300+ target more than two overs to spare

Match Centre

Statistics

Best performances - Batsmen

MD Gunathilaka
116(111) 15x4 - 1x6
Control %85%
  • Productive Shot
  • pull
  • 35 runs
  • 8x4 - 0x6
15 5 6 21 31 6 20 12
H Masakadza
H Masakadza
111(98) 15x4 - 1x6
Control %89%
  • Productive Shot
  • on drive
  • 21 runs
  • 3x4 - 0x6
22 7 7 6 21 20 21 7

Best performances - Bowlers

PW Hasaranga
PW Hasaranga
O7
M0
R44
W2
Eco6.28
RHB
OFFLEG
1W
  • FTFULL TOSS
  • YYORKER
  • FFULL LENGTH
  • GGOOD LENGTH
  • SGSHORT OF GOOD LENGTH
  • SSHORT LENGTH
LHB
LEGOFF
1W
DAS Gunaratne
DAS Gunaratne
O10
M1
R53
W2
Eco5.30
RHB
OFFLEG
1W
  • FTFULL TOSS
  • YYORKER
  • FFULL LENGTH
  • GGOOD LENGTH
  • SGSHORT OF GOOD LENGTH
  • SSHORT LENGTH
LHB
LEGOFF
1W

Match Details

Toss

Sri Lanka , elected to field first

Player Of The Match

Series result

Sri Lanka led the 5-match series 2-1

Match number

Season

Hours of play (local time)

09.45 start, First Session 09.45-13.15, Interval 13.15-14.00, Second Session 14.00-17.30

Match days

06 July 2017 (50-over match)

TV Umpires

Reserve Umpire

Match Referee

Scorer: Sanjay Murari | Commentator: Alagappan Muthu

That's all we have for you from this game. Catch up with Andrew Fernando's report here, or the Test between SA and England here. But other than that, see ya.

"It was a fantastic effort by the boys. After losing the first game, we had our backs against the ball and we came back well," Angelo Mathews says, "Hamilton played briliantly, credit to him, but we came back very well to keep them to 310. Danushka and Dickwella batted brilliantly and after they gout out, Upul took us home. We can't thank him enough, he's been up and down the order for many years. Here he gave his place to the others to open and he is still scoring runs"

"I thought we had enough runs on the board," says Graeme Cremer, the Zimbabwe captian, "We might have slowed down between 30 to 40, but we picked it up after that. It was a good wicket, and the openers did take the game away from us. Didn't help that we dropped a few chances. Didn't start well with the ball either. We need to get runs on the board batting first, but 310 was enough, we just need to get better with the field. Our bowling was probably under par as well"

"I just played my normal game. Credit goes to Dickwella, he played a brilliant knock," says Gunathilaka, the Man of the Match, says "It was a great wicket to bat and we knew if we played out natural game, we could get it easily. Credit goes to the bowlers, it was a hard wicket ot bowl. They did really well"

"Great feeling to get my first hundred," Dickwella says. "Playing in Sri Lanka, making my first century in front of our crowd is a great feeling. Great privilege batting with Gunathilaka as well. We just wanted to keep the run-rate under 6 and 6.5. We were just batting out the overs, not talking much, not thinking much. [Is that your best knock?] Not really, not up to my standards. I just want to make my country proud and make it easy for the team. I was counting my runs from 90, and I asked Gunathilaka if I was on 99 or 98 and he said, you were on 99 [he was on 98], I'm sure. So when I got a single next ball, I started celebrating."

5.35 pm This is the match Angelo Mathews has waited all his career for: to put his feet up in the dressing room all innings while his boys go out and hunt down 300-plus.

Especially after your bowlers took 25 minutes longer to finish their innings. This game has finished nearly on time with the batsmen picking up the slack beautifully. Niroshan Dickwella, with his whiplash hands, and Danushka Gunathilaka, with his sheer power, put on a double-century opening stand. What more do you want in a 300 chase? Zimbabwe just couldn't find a way past them, and when they did, their fielders let them down, dropping catches

So Hamilton Masakadza's fifth ODI ton was in vain. He played a superb innings, hitting straight more often than not and timing it beautifully too. Many of his shots were hit with the wind too. But he fell in the 33rd over, and there after Zimbabwe's scoring slumped. They probably finished 30-40 runs short. That's saying something considering Nuwan Pradeep, who had looked Sri Lanka's best bowler in the six overs he could get through, had to leave the field with some kind of leg injury. Stepping up for him were offspinner Aesla Gunaratne and legspinner Wanindu Hasaranga. Four wickets between them for 97 runs in 17 overs.

47.2
4
Mire to Tharanga, FOUR, there it is. Only the second chase of 300 ever in Sri Lanka and both have come in this series. Tharanga wraps it up with a pull - indicative of the lengths Zimbabwe have insisted on bowling on this flat pitch, those tactics need to be looked at - and stays not out for the third innings in a row
47.1
0
Mire to Tharanga, no run, back of a length ball, lets it go.

END OF OVER:
47 | 6 Runs | SL: 308/2 (3 runs required from 18 balls, RR: 6.55, RRR: 1.00)

  • Upul Tharanga40 (30b)
  • Kusal Mendis28 (25b)
  • Tendai Chatara6-0-47-0
  • Solomon Mire1.4-0-15-0
46.6
1
Chatara to Tharanga, 1 run, slower short ball on off stump, pulls it to deep midwicket
46.6
1w
Chatara to Tharanga, 1 wide, continues digging into his own half, Tharanga continues to let them all go, and it's been called a wide for height
46.5
0
Chatara to Tharanga, no run, avoids the attempted bouncer on leg stump
46.4
2
Chatara to Tharanga, 2 runs, hits into the breeze, and so the ball just holds up in the air, and plop on the ground about two-thirds of the way to the midwicket boundary

Sri Lanka 2nd innings Partnerships

WktRunsPlayers
1st229MD GunathilakaN Dickwella
2nd8MD GunathilakaBKG Mendis
3rd75WU TharangaBKG Mendis