HARARE: An unbe­aten 73 from Kamil Mish­ara led Sri Lanka to an eight-wicket victory over Zimbabwe in Har­are on Sunday to win their Twenty20 Internat­io­nal series 2-1.

Put in to bat after losing the toss, Zimbabwe made 191-8 but Sri Lanka cruised to the target with 14 balls to spare.

Mishara and Kusal Perera put on 117 runs in an unbeaten third-wic­ket stand as Sri Lanka completed a white-ball double, having won the preceding ODI series against Zimbabwe 2-0.

Having scored just 35 runs in four previous T20I innings, 24-year-old Mishara made his mark with a match-winning knock, hitting three sixes and six fours from the 43 balls he faced.

“It is a privilege to win a game for my country, I just feel very good,” said Mishara. “There was pre­s­s­ure, of course, but the coaching staff just told me to play my normal game. I just wanted to get into my rhythm and then played my normal game.”

Mishara and veteran Perera came together with Sri Lanka 76-2 after 7.1 overs and took control as Sri Lanka put a nightmare 80 all out in the second match on Saturday behind them.

Perera scored as briskly as Mishara, with his unbeaten 46 coming off 26 deliveries. His innings included two sixes and four fours.

Wicket-keeper Tadiw­anashe Marumani top scored for Zimbabwe with 51 off 44 balls before being stumped by Mendis off a googly from leg-spinner Dushan Hemantha.

Hemantha (3-38) also took the wickets of Sean Williams (23) and home captain Sikandar Raza (28).

On Saturday, Zimbabwe levelled the series with a five-wicket victory in a low-scoring match.

Sri Lanka were all out for 80 — their second lowest T20 total — and Zimbabwe made 84-5 in reply at the Harare Sports Club to win with 34 balls remaining.The tourists won the first match by five runs.

Scoreboard

ZIMBABWE:

B. Bennett c Perera b Chameera 13

T. Marumani st K. Mendis b Hemantha 51

S. Williams c Pathirana b Hemantha 23

S. Raza c Perera b Hemantha 28

R. Burl b Chameera 26

T. Musekiwa lbw b Fernando 18

T. Munyonga not out 13

B. Evans lbw b Pathirana 2

T. Maposa run out 1

R. Ngarava not out 4

EXTRAS (LB-4, NB-1, W-7) 12

TOTAL (for eight wkts, 20 overs) 191

DID NOT BAT: B. Muzarabani

FALL OF WICKETS: 1-26 (Bennett), 2-65 (Williams), 3-121 (Raza), 4-134 (Marumani), 5-161 (Musekiwa), 6-175 (Burl), 7-185 (Evans), 8-187 (Maposa)

BOWLING: Pathirana 4-0-40-1, Fernando 4-0-48-1 (3w, 1nb), Chameera 4-0-33-2 (1w), Asalanka 3-0-19-0 (1w), Hemantha 4-0-38-3 (2w), Shanaka 1-0-9-0

SRI LANKA:

P. Nissanka b Raza 33

K. Mendis c Raza b Evans 30

K. Mishara not out 73

K. Perera not out 46

EXTRAS (LB-2, W-9) 11

TOTAL (for two wkts, 17.4 overs) 193

DID NOT BAT: C. Asalanka, K.D. Mendis, D. Shanaka, D. Hemantha, M. Pathirana, D. Chameera, B. Fernando

FALL OF WICKETS: 1-58 (K. Mendis), 2-76 (Nissanka)

BOWLING: Ngarava 3.4-0-42-0, Muzarabani 3-0-43-0 (1w), Evans 3-0-28-1 (1w), Maposa 2-0-26-0, Raza 4-0-29-1 (1w), Williams 1-0-10-0 (1w), Bennett 1-0-13-0

RESULT: Sri Lanka won by eight wickets.

PLAYER-OF-THE-MATCH: Kamil Mishra

SERIES: Sri Lanka won the three-match series 2-1.

PLAYER-OF-THE-SERIES: Dushm­antha Chameera

Published in Dawn, September 8th, 2025