Sri Lanka claim series whitewash

Sri Lanka wrapped up a 5-0 series whitewash with victory over Zimbabwe in the final one-day match in Harare.

The tourists had posted their lowest total in the series as Zimbabwe rattled them out for 152 with Ed Rainsford returning figures of 3-22 in Harare.

But Zimbabwe could not take advantage and lost their first six wickets for only 58 runs to lose by 19 runs.

Muttiah Muralitharan did the most damage, capturing 5-29, while Keith Dabengwa top-scored with 39 runs.

Despite some modest performances by Sri Lanka in the series, skipper Mahela Jayawardene insisted he was pleased enough.

"When we came here we set ourselves goals. We needed to win 5-0. We did that," he said after finishing the series with two ducks.

"If the top-order doesn't click, the middle order must come to the party. We need to complement each other"
Zimbabwe captain Prosper Utseya

"Yes, it wasn't convincing, but considering the conditions and that the oppositions played well in the last three games, especially with the ball, we have to take that as an achievement.

"We knew it was going to be difficult to get 250 runs on this kind of wicket and we knew we could not afford to play bad shots. We made some mistakes.

"But the most important thing is that the guys rose up under pressure and came back strongly. We never said it was going to be a walk in the park. We needed to play consistently."

Simbabwe skipper Prosper Utseya said: "If the top-order doesn't click, the middle order must come to the party. We need to complement each other. Guys are working hard, to be honest with you, we are just failing to get the results."

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