Nissanka's 122 leads Sri Lanka to 2-0 series sweep

Where Zimbabwe had faltered on Friday, Sri Lanka followed through in consummate fashion. Set a target of 278 in the second and final ODI in Harare, the visitors tracked it down with five wickets and three deliveries to spare. And with it, they swept the series 2-0.

Similar to the first ODI, this too went down to the wire, and like that game on Friday, the chasing side seemed in control right until the last. But here with wickets in hand, and a deep batting line-up, Sri Lanka held firm and saw the game through.

That said, Sri Lanka perhaps made life more difficult for themselves than they needed to. They did not score a boundary in the final powerplay until the 48th over - two ended up coming off that one, to leave the equation at 12 needed off 12 - but it meant the game was heading for yet another final over finish.

In the penultimate over, Charith Asalanka got a boundary after deep midwicket had misjudged a skier, but was caught a ball later, having scored a crucial 71 off 61. Then, Kamindu Mendis defied space and time to inside edge an attempted reverse lap sweep for four, off a pinpoint Ngarava yorker to bring the equation down to 6 off 2. After that, the rest was a formality.

The scorecard might indicate that the game was closer than it might have been, but with the chase anchored around Pathum Nissanka's seventh ODI hundred - as he shared successive stands of 48, 20, 78 and 90 with Nuwanidu Fernando, Kusal Mendis, Sadeera Samarawickrama and finally Asalanka - the visitors were always in control.

It was in that final stand with Asalanka that Sri Lanka would say they broke the spine of the chase, with their partnership, at a touch over run-a-ball, ensuring the scoring was brisk through the middle overs.

Indeed, this period was one of the main points of differentiation between the two sides. Where Zimbabwe scored 139 runs for the loss of four wickets between overs 15-40, Sri Lanka struck 27 more runs and lost one less wicket in the same period.

It meant heading to the death overs, the scoreboard pressure was minimal for Sri Lanka, who were left needing just 67 off 60, with seven wickets in hand. Zimbabwe, by comparison, had scored 83 at the death just to push their total to competitive territory.

Perhaps if a straightforward chance off Nissanka, when he was on 78, had not been spilled, Sri Lanka might have had a tougher time. In the end, however, they saw the game through to victory with minimal peril - even if ideally it should have been wrapped up sooner.

Nissanka's innings of 122 off 136 was exactly what was required in a chase of this variety. It earned him both the Player of the Match and Player of the Series awards. His frequent boundaries during the opening powerplay ensured the lack of strike rotation was not as keenly felt, and then, through the middle overs, his ability to find boundaries to punctuate lulls in play meant Sri Lanka never let the required rate get out of hand.

Once Asalanka joined him, the boundary scoring burden was alleviated somewhat, with the Sri Lanka skipper willing to up the ante when required - most notably, with a trio of boundaries in the 40th over off Blessing Muzarabani.

The target, however, had always seemed a touch below par on a fresh surface that was expected to suit the batters. Zimbabwe, having been put in to bat, did reasonably well at the start and end of their innings, but Sri Lanka controlled the middle overs to restrict the hosts to 277 for 7.

That they got even that much was down to an unbeaten 59 off 55 from Sikandar Raza, as part of 76-run sixth-wicket stand with Clive Madande (36 off 36), and then smaller stands with the tail-enders.

Ben Curran top-scored in the innings with a 95-ball 79, but unlike Nissanka later in the day, he was unable to be around for the final overs. Where the Zimbabwe innings lost their way was losing wickets at crucial points through the middle overs.

After Zimbabwe's fast start - scoring 55 inside the opening powerplay - the entry of a rusty Brendan Taylor allowed Sri Lanka to apply the brakes on the scoring. Taylor and Curran put on a stand of 61, but since it came off 84 deliveries, it allowed Asalanka to sneak in several overs of the fifth-bowler quota.

Taylor laboured to 20 off 37 during this period, while Asalanka snuck four of his own overs in for just 17 runs. With six more fifth-bowler overs remaining, Asalanka brought on Janith Liyanage, who dismissed Taylor in his second over, as the experienced batter mistimed a scoop to short fine while seeking to up the scoring.

Sean Williams then entered, and all it took was one monster strike down the ground for Liyanage to be removed from the attack. With Williams generally looking to attack, both Maheesh Theekshana and Dushmantha Chameera kept things tight during this period.

Curran had done well up until this point, but his nine boundaries had come early on. His rhythm too had been interrupted by the lack of strike rotation during his partnership with Taylor - something perhaps impacted by a seeming hamstring niggle Taylor picked up during the innings.

With the pressure building, the expensive Asitha Fernando was brought back and he delivered instantly, bookending his over with the wickets of Curran and Williams - both succumbing to short deliveries, with the former top edging one and the latter a delivery dragging on to the stumps.

At 155 for 4, this shifted the momentum decisively in Sri Lanka's favour. Liyanage was allowed to bowl a few more cheap overs to complete the fifth over quota, and while both Raza and Tony Munyonga struck boundaries following a couple of overs of consolidation, Madushanka returned to dismiss the latter.

It was at this point that Raza took the lead, setting the tone with a pair of boundaries - the first a deft late dab, the second of inside out lofted cover drive - to signal Zimbabwe's late charge.

While boundaries weren't as frequent in the following overs, the running between the wickets - a highlight of Zimbabwe's chase in the first game - was once more exemplary. Despite scoring just six fours and a six in the final ten, they managed to score at beyond eight an over in the death overs, and with it, put up a fighting total. In the end, however, it wasn't enough.