Zimbabwe record historic series win over Sri Lanka

Zimbabwe survived a collapse against Sri Lanka to seal their first major overseas one-day series win since 2001.

Graeme Cremer’s side had not beaten a fellow Test-playing nation away from home since getting the better of Bangladesh 16 years ago.

Despite losing six wickets for 38 runs, they managed to overhaul Sri Lanka’s below-par 203-8 in Hambantota.

Hamilton Masakadza was the star, hitting 73 which followed the 111 he made in the third of five ODIs.

Defeat was a particular blow to Sri Lanka, who are yet to automatically qualify for the 2019 World Cup in England.

While they would need an unlikely set of results to avoid being pipped by West Indies on the 30 September cut-off, the 1996 champions remain at risk of having to go through a play-off with the likes of Zimbabwe, Ireland, Afghanistan, Netherlands and Papua New Guinea.

Last Updated on July 10, 2017 at 8:19 PM