Hasaranga shines with career-best figures as Sri Lanka clinches series

Colombo, Jan. 11 (Daily Mirror) - Wanindu Hasaranga, who made a comeback to the Sri Lanka team in the final one-day international against Zimbabwe at R. Premadasa Stadium on Thursday after missing the World Cup due to injury, delivered an outstanding performance, claiming a seven-wicket haul, a career-best ODI bowling performance, to secure a victory with eight wickets in a rain-affected match and seal the ODI series 2/0.

Zimbabwe won the toss and chose to bat in the final ODI. Sri Lanka dropped Dasun Shanaka and Jeffery Vandersay, replacing them with Shevon Daniel and Wanindu Hasaranga. Prior to the game, Sri Lanka's captain Kusal Mendis presented the cap to top-order batter Shevon Daniel, making his debut for Sri Lanka. Wanindu Hasaranga replaced Jeffery Vandersay, despite the latter's impactful performance in the previous match.

The opening batsmen were playing confidently against Sri Lankan bowlers before rain first broke Zimbabwe's momentum, with Zimbabwe at 40/0 for 7.4 overs. The match resumed at 5:15 pm with 43 overs per side, and Hasaranga, who returned to the side after missing the World Cup due to injury, broke Zimbabwe's momentum and took three early wickets. Zimbabwe was 48/3 for 11.5 overs. The game restarted with 27 overs per side. Hasaranga took 7 wickets for just 19 runs, and Sri Lanka restricted the opponent to 96 runs in 22.5 overs. Dilshan Madushanka, Mahesh Theekshana, and Janith Liyanage took one wicket each. For Zimbabwe's batting lineup, Joylord Gumbie scored 29 runs.

In response, Sri Lanka chased down the target, losing only two wickets in the process. Notably, the skipper, Kusal Mendis, played a crucial role by scoring an unbeaten knock of 66 runs off 51 balls.

Although Zimbabwe lost the second match, their bowlers made the chase of 209 incredibly tough for Sri Lanka. They wanted to win the final ODI to level the series.

The first ODI played on Saturday was called off due to rain, and Sri Lanka won the second ODI by two wickets in a thrilling encounter.

Yesterday's game marked Hasaranga's first ODI since the World Cup Qualifier tournament in July last year. He missed the Asia Cup, World Cup, and the first two games of this series due to injury.

With the ODI series victory, Sri Lanka is set to face Zimbabwe in a three-match T20 series commencing on January 14th at RPICS, Colombo.