Nissanka makes fifty as SL settle for par 178/7 against Zimbabwe

Colombo (PTI): Sri Lanka batters struggled against Zimbabwe spinners in the middle overs on a slow pitch, but reached a par 178 for seven in their Group B T20 World Cup match here on Thursday.

Opting to bat first, Sri Lanka got off to a reasonable start with openers Kusal Perera (22) and Pathum Nissanka (62) adding 54 runs in 4.5 overs.

The left-handed Perera did not look comfortable but found a couple of boundaries off pacer Blessing Muzarabani.

But he fell to the towering pacer soon. Perera could not impart placement to his pull shot off a Muzarabani bouncer, getting caught by Graeme Cremer at short fine leg.

Muzarabani was also quite impressive on the day, tucking the ball into the pitch to take the pace off to keep the batters waiting.

The Lankans still ended the power play at a satisfactory 61 for 1, but found the scoring tough in the subsequent phase.

Zimbabwe spinners -- Sikandar Raza, Cremer, Ryan Burl and Wellington Masakadza -- did not give any wriggle room for the home batters as the next four overs produced just 21 runs.

They also lost the slow-moving Kusal Mendis (14, 20b) during this time.

In between, Nissanka, fresh from his 100 against Australia in the previous match, completed his fifty in 34 balls.

The tiny right-hander judged the pace of the pitch beautifully, and focused on taking quick singles, doubles and only freed his arms at the most opportune moment.

But eventually, Nissanka also fell to the slowness of track, a reverse sweep off Cremer ending in the hands of Tony Munynoga.

The talented Pavan Rathnayake (44, 25b) creamed Brad Evans for 4, 6, 4 in the 19th over to push SL past the 150-run mark, before perishing in the same over. The last two overs produced 30 runs and that could make a difference to the outcome.