BULAWAYO, April 22: Sanath Jayasuriya became Sri Lanka's highest run scorer in One-day Internationals and helped his side to a nine-wicket victory over weakened Zimbabwe here on Thursday.
Zimbabwe were dismissed for 136 after being put in to bat. Sri Lanka replied with a whirlwind for 139 for one in 20.5 overs to take a 2-0 lead in the five-match series. Veteran left-hander Jayasuriya, out for 31, had gone into his 315th one-dayer needing 28 to pass Aravinda de Silva's milestone of 9,284, scored in 308 matches.
Jayasuriya claimed the record in the ninth over of Sri Lanka's reply when he drove a delivery from medium pacer Douglas Hondo high over the cover boundary for six. The innings also put Jayasuriya in fifth place on the list of all-time run-scorers in One-day Internationals.
The foundations of the win were laid when left-arm paceman Chaminda Vaas took four wickets in his opening spell on his way to final figures of four for 38. Off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan mystified the lower order with four for 32.
Zimbabwe captain Tatenda Taibu, who made a career-best 96 not out in the first match of the series on Tuesday, escaped being run out for nought and went on to top-score with 35. Saman Jayantha scored 74 not out off 64 balls with 12 fours and a six to marshall Sri Lanka's reply.
Zimbabwe were again fielding a highly inexperienced side after 15 white players made themselves unavailable as part of a selection-process battle with their board. They had put up an unexpectedly good display in the first game, scoring 211 for six before being edged out on the Duckworth-Lewis method.
Taibu said on Thursday: "It was a different story today. Sri Lanka bowled very well early on, particularly Vaas and (Nuwan) Zoysa, and we didn't have any answers to them." Sri Lankan captain Marvan Atapattu said: "We knew what to expect from the Zimbabweans this time and we did exactly what the doctor ordered." The next game is in Harare on Sunday.
Scoreboard
ZIMBABWE:
V. Sibanda lbw b Vaas 0
B.R.M. Taylor c Jayantha b Vaas 2
D.D. Ebrahim c Dilshan b Vaas 16
T. Taibu run out 35
E. Chigumbura c Jayawardene b Vaas 0
S. Matsikenyeri st S'kkara b Murali 18
A. Maregwede lbw b Murali 10
M.L. Nkala b Jayasuriya 6
P. Utseya not out 25
D.T. Hondo lbw b Murali 12
T. Panyangara b Murali 0
EXTRAS (B-1, LB-2, W-2, NB-7) 12
TOTAL (all out, 36.4 overs) 136
FALL OF WKTS: 1-0, 2-20, 3-27, 4-27, 5-76, 6-80, 7-95, 8-108, 9-134.
BOWLING: Vaas 10-1-38-4 (6nb); Zoysa 6-2-21-0 (1w); Chandana 5-0-20-0 (1nb); Muralitharan 8.4-2-32-4; Jayasuriya 7-0-22-1 (1w).
SRI LANKA:
S. Jayantha not out 74
S.T. Jayasuriya c Utseya b P'gara 31
M.S. Atapattu not out 21
EXTRAS (W-12, NB-1) 13
TOTAL (for one wkt, 20.5 overs) 139
FALL OF WKT: 1-84.
DID NOT BAT: K.C. Sangakkara, D.P.M. Jayawardene, T.M. Dilshan, R.P. Arnold, U.D.U. Chandana, W.P.U.J.C. Vaas, D.N.T. Zoysa, M. Muralitharan.
BOWLING: Hondo 8-1-51-0 (1nb, 1w); Panyangara 6-1-40-1 (9w); Chigumbura 2-0-17-0 (1w); Utseya 2.5-0-11-0; Matsikenyeri 2-0-20-0 (1w).
RESULT: Sri Lanka won by nine wickets.
UMPIRES: K.C. Barbour (Zimbabwe) and I.L. Howell (South Africa).
TV UMPIRE: R.B. Tiffin (Zimbabwe).
MATCH REFEREE: M.J. Procter (South Africa).
MAN-OF-THE-MATCH: Chaminda Vaas.
NEXT MATCH: Harare, April 25. -Reuters
Leading run-scorers in ODIs
Batsmen Matches Runs
S.R. Tendulkar (India) 333 13,134
Inzamamul Haq (Pakistan) 312 9,796
M. Azharuddin (India) 334 9,378
S.C. Ganguly (India) 249 9,309
S.T. Jayasuriya (Sri Lanka) 315 9,288
P.A. de Silva (Sri Lanka) 308 9,284
Saeed Anwar (Pakistan) 247 8,823
D.L. Haynes (West Indies) 238 8,648
B.C. Lara (West Indies) 229 8,533
M.E. Waugh (Australia) 244 8,500