Sl vs zim: Sri Lanka defeated Zimbabwe by 4 wickets with a stormy innings of Kamindu Mendis, 1-0 lead in the series

By Cross Talk India Team Last updated Sep 3, 2025

In the first T20 match played in Harare on Wednesday (September 3), Sri Lanka defeated Zimbabwe by 4 wickets to take a 1-0 lead in the series. Batting first after losing the toss, Zimbabwe scored 175 runs losing 7 wickets in 20 overs, in response to which Sri Lanka achieved the target in 19.1 overs.

For Zimbabwe, Brian Bennett scored 81 runs while batting brilliantly. He had important partnerships with captain Sikander Raza (28) and Ryan Berl (17). Zimbabwe scored a strong score of 175 runs by scoring fast runs in the last overs. For Sri Lanka, Dushmantha Chamera took 3 wickets, while Thushara, TITI and Hemant got 1–1 wickets.

Chasing the target, Sri Lanka got a strong start by Pathum Nisanka (55) and Kusal Mendis (38) and added 96 runs in 10 overs. However, after this Sri Lanka lost the wickets fast and the score increased to 120/5. Dasun Shanaka was also dismissed for 6 runs in a state of pressure.

From here, Sri Lanka needed 34 runs in the last 18 balls. At the same time, Kamindu Mendis overturned the match by hitting 26 runs in Tinotanda Maposa over. Mendis scored 41 runs in 16 balls and brought the team to victory with Dushan Hemant (14*).

For Zimbabwe, Richard Nagarwa took 2 wickets, while Mujarbani, Maposa, Brad and Raza got 1-1 wickets.

With this victory, Sri Lanka took a 1-0 lead in the series. Now the second T20 match will be played in Harare on 6 September and third on 7 September. Earlier, Sri Lanka also won the ODI series 2–0.