Sri Lanka vs Zimbabwe, 3rd T20I at Colombo, SL v ZIM, Jan 18 2024 - Ball by Ball Commentary

Sri Lanka then lift the trophy as We Will Rock You blares in the background. It was certainly a rocking series, and a great one to kick off a heavy season of cricket - for Sri Lanka and the rest of the world. The Sri Lankans will be in action against Afghanistan for both red-ball and white-ball cricket in a few weeks, but more immediately the Under-19 World Cup is kicking off tomorrow. There's also tons of action in the SA20 and the BBL, so be sure to join us for all of that and more! But for now, it's a wrap from us. On behalf of Chandan and the team, this is Madushka signing off!

Wanindu Hasaranga: "After the second game we needed to do a good job, so happy. We just spoke about fielding and batting, but I think the bowlers and fielders did a really good job. In the second game we saw dew game, so we wanted to chase this time around. [areas for improvement?] As a captain I'm just focused on fielding and the top order batting."

Sikandar Raza: "52 after 6 overs and the to be 82 all out, there's no explanation. The only explanation I have is that we take full responsibility as the players. We're trying our best but unfortunately when we need courage more than skills that's not there. And that cannot be coached or taught, and unfortunately that's one of the reasons today. [Tour?] There's been a lot of good and bad. It's extremes. We've either really good or really poor, nothing in between. Not finding a consistent way of playing at the moment. [areas of concern?] We're having a lot of positive chats, but I'm very big on how we train. A lot of the work is done behind closed doors. Unfortunately we're not training as professionally as we could be, including myself. We're not reading the game well and understanding the situation, and playing accordingly. We're not trusting our skills. Today's one of those days where Craig, myself and Sean had to play a lot of the overs and we couldn't. That had a ripple effect. [Positive] The biggest one has been the seamers and how well they've bowled on a tough tour."

Angelo Mathews is the Player of the Series for his 112 runs and 2 wickets over three games: "For the past 16-odd years I don't think my mom and dad were present [when I've won one of these] so I just want to dedicate this them. It's been a great comeback series for me. I've been working extremely hard on and off the field, trying to keep up with all the youngsters. It's great that I was able to contribute in all three departments. [Role for SL?] It'll change depending on the surfaces that we play on. My job was to try and help us get to a good target, especially in the second T20. It depends on where I bat, but happy to whatever the team needs from me. [Prefer to bowl at the top?] It depends. I've bowled a few overs at the end. If not for my crappy over in the last T20 we could've won 3-0. But nothing can be taken from the Zimbabweans. They've played extremely good cricket and we've had to work really hard to win the series. Credit to them and wish them the very best."

Wanindu Hasaranga is the Player of the Match for his figures of 4 for 15

Time then for the presentation ceremony...

Joe: "Finally a win with overs to spare Thanks to Zimbabwe for a great series "

9.10pm Smiles all around for the Sri Lankans, only dejection for the Zimbabweans. But they can hold their heads high, because despite the end result this was a very tightly contested series. This game though was as one-sided as it gets. Sri Lanka needed just 65 deliveries to surmount Zimbabwe's subpar total of 82. Pathum Nissanka, who had not been in the runs, ended on 39 off 23. Kusal Mendis was also in the runs with 27-ball 33. The win though was set up by the Lankan bowlers, with more than a little helping of loose strokeplay from the Zimbabwean batters.

Just one needed now

Dinuk: "@madushka: DDS batting at No. 3 is not really a rare excursion up the order, that's been his position for T20Is for a while. He was brought in to replace KJP and him batting at No. 3 was one of the main reasons he was selected in the squad in the first place" --- Fair enough. Think my memory of him has been clouded by his ODI exploits.

Dhananjaya de Silva with a rare excursion up the order