Sri Lanka vs Zimbabwe, 3rd ODI at Colombo, SL v ZIM, Jan 11 2024 - Match Result

Sri Lanka's players pose in front of the Winners' banner and are all smiles. It's been a comprehensive win in tough times. They'll hope to carry it forward in the T20Is in three days. Hope to see you then. It's goodnight for now from me, Ekanth, on behalf of my co-commentators, S Sudarshanan and Himanshu Agrawal, and our scorers, Ranjith P and K Vairavan.

Kusal Mendis, Sri Lanka captain speaks Sinhalese with Roshan Abeysinghe, who summarises the chat at the end. Says the skipper's happy with the win. He complimented the batting of Liyanage and Asalanka. Very pleased with the way the bowlers have done too. He's very confident with the job going forward.

Craig Ervine, Zimbabwe captain: Didn't go well today. Had a decent start before the rain, Hasaranga was special. Our bowlers did well, hit good areas but couldn't get on top. During the day, conditions were easier to bat. Got difficult as the evening went on. T20s starting at 6:30 will be interesting. Our options against spin has been limited. Hope to work on that heading into the T20s and be able to score freely.

Janith Liyanage, POTS: I feel really pleased, very happy. I've been performing well in the domestic season. Trusted myself to carry that here. I don't mind playing at any position as long as I do what's required for the team well. Step up to the international stage has been good. Credit to Zimbabwe, who put up a good fight.

Wanindu Hasaranga, POTM: I came back after a few months. I'm good, thanks to everyone who supported me. I last played the LPL and haven't played since. I've worked hard to come back again, played two domestic games before today. Happy now. We have a balanced T20 side. As a captain, I hope to do our basics well. I don't think captaincy will affect my performance, I have been able to lead Kandy to victory in the LPL.

Joe: "Wonder if Hasaranga can get player of the series playing only 1 game " Not sure, he should be the POTM. It'll be confirmed in the presentation that's coming right up.

10:18pm A cakewalk to seal the series for the hosts. Captain Mendis rolled seamlessly in the chase and it was set up by Hasaranga, who bulldozed the batting either side of rain. It meant that Ngarava and Muzarabani, who bowled jaffas every now and again, couldn't build scoreboard pressure. Mendis took on anything loose. Shevon Daniel, on ODI debut, had to work hard and didn't get going but let his skipper speed ahead. Samarawickrama joined late to finish with a red inker.

Around. Six to win

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