Spinner lakshan Sandakan took four wickets and his partner Hasaranga de Silva took a hat-trick on debut as Sri lanka thrashed Zimbabwe by seven wickets in the second one-day international to level the five-match series on Sunday.
Sri lanka captain Angelo Mathews asked Zimbabwe to bat first and they were bowled out for a paltry 155 runs. Sandakan played a major part in dismantling Zimbabwe's batting order and finished with four for 52. De Silva polished off the tail by removing the last three wickets in successive deliveries.
In reply Sri lanka lost two wickets for 10 runs and the third at 77. But Upul Tharanga with unbeaten on 75 to seal the match for the hosts. With the win Sri lanka has leveled the series 1-1 after Zimbabwe won the first match by six wickets.
Zimbabwe opener Solomon Mire, who scored a century in the last match, was out for no score this time after being caught behind by Niroshan Dickwella from seamer Nuwan Pradeep.Hamilton Masakadza, the top scorer of the Zimbabwe innings, was caught and bowled by Asela Gunaratne for 41 off 56 deliveries. Malcolm Waller (38), Craig Ervin (22) and Sean Williams (13) all got off the mark but could not build on the good starts. Sandakan took the wickets of Ervin, Sikandar Raza, Ryan Burl and Peter Moor finishing with 4-52. De Silva wiped out the Zimbabwe tail in the 34th over by first bowling out Waller, off the inside edge. He trapped Donald Tiripano lbw in the next delivery and then bowled Tendai Chatara.
Chatara removed Danushka Gunathilaka (8) and Kusal Mendis (0) to leave Sri lanka 10 for two. But ultimately it proved too much for Zimbabwe bowlers to defend their score.