Hambantota: Ajantha Mendis bettered his own T20 record by taking six wickets for just eight runs as Sri Lanka walloped Zimbabwe by 82 runs in the opening match of the World Twenty20 cricket tournament on Tuesday.
Sri Lanka recovered from a slow start to post a huge 182 for four and then bundled out Zimbabwe for 100 in 17.3 overs.
The Zimbabweans struggled to handle spin and were bamboozled by Ajantha (6/8) and Jeevan Mendis (3/24), who shared nine wickets between them.
Ajantha’s figures are the best in T20 cricket, improving on his own earlier figures of 6/16 against Australia last year.
“I am really happy today. Playing cricket after nine months, I am really happy with my performance, and I will do my best in the coming matches,” Ajantha said.
The hosts owed their impressive total to Kumar Sangakkara (44) and Jeevan as the two left-handers put on a 94-run stand for the fourth wicket.
Zimbabwe had done well in the early part of the Lankan innings but leaked 75 runs in the last six overs to let go the advantage.
Ajantha conceded just eight runs in his four overs, two of them maidens.
The Zimbabweans could manage just five boundaries in the first 10 overs, three of them coming from the bat of Hamilton Maskadaza (20), who was their top-scorer.
Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene said his team did not take Zimbabwe lightly.
“It’s tough paying a team like Zimbabwe. You can’t take anything for granted. I am happy that we executed a good game plan,” he said.
“It is a tough pill to swallow,” his opposite number Brendan Taylor said. “We are a far better side than what we showed today,” before adding that Zimbabwe had to bounce back. (PTI)
