Vaas and Murali show at Harare

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 4-38. Off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan mystified the lower order with 4-32. 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, including ex-captain Heath Streak, made themselves unavailable as part of a selection-process battle with their board.

BRIEF SCORES
Zimbabwe: 136 (T Taibu 35, P Utseya not out 25, Vaas 4/38, Muralitharan 4/32) vs Sri Lanka: 139/1 (Jayasuriya 31, Atapattu 21 n.o).