Having made 250 all out, Sri Lanka restricted Zimbabwe to 171 for eight in their 50 overs as Muralitharan took one for 22 in 10 overs and Dharmasena captured three for 26 in his 10 overs.

Sri Lanka stay top of the standings with three wins out of three, followed by Pakistan on one win from two matches, and Zimbabwe, who have lost all three games. Each team plays four fixtures.

Sri Lankan captain Sanath Jayasuriya’s delight at his team’s form was tempered, at a personal level, by a statistical error that wrongly credited him with 7,000 runs in limited overs internationals.

According to a revised tally, Jayasuriya began the match at 6,946 and added 25 more to reach 6,971 in 245 matches, still 29 runs short of joining Aravinda de Silva and Arjuna Ranatunga on the 7,000 mark.

Sri Lanka built their innings around fluent half-centuries from Mahela Jayawardene and Russel Arnold after electing to bat first on an easy-paced pitch.

The two middle order batsmen, pacing the innings with conviction, lifted Sri Lanka from 62 for three in the 11th over by adding 111 for the fourth wicket.

Jayawardene struck a chanceless 63 off 77 balls, with six fours, while Arnold cracked a polished 55 in 77 balls, hitting four fours.

Sri Lanka reached 203 for five by the 40th over, but Heath Streak and Gary Brent, returning for second spells, prevented a late run charge.

Zimbabwe made the worst possible start when Grant Flower was bowled by Chaminda Vaas for two in the third over.

Trevor Gripper (26) and Stuart Carlisle (37) steadied the innings in a stand of 61 for the second wicket before both fell in the 19th over.

Andy Flower, Zimbabwe’s most accomplished batsman, and Dion Ebrahim went cheaply, reducing Zimbabwe to 99 for five by the 29th over.

Douglas Marillier, with 52 off 68 deliveries including three fours and one six, held firm but lacked support from the lower order as Sri Lanka kept a tight grip.

SCOREBOARD

Sri Lanka

S.Jayasuriya c Friend b Streak 25

A.Gunawardene lbw b Streak 14

M.Atapattu c G.Flower b Brent 9

M.Jayawardene c Gripper b Marillier 63

R.Arnold c Brent b Streak 55

K.Sangakkara b Brent 35

K.Dharmasena st A.Flower b Marillier 8

C.Vaas run out 13

D.Liyanage c A.Flower b Streak 2

M.Muralitharan c G.Flower b Brent 2

C.Buddika not out 0

Extras (b-1 lb-4 w-12 nb-7) 24

Total (all out, 49.4 overs) 250

Fall of wickets: 1-41 2-59 3-62 4-173 5-199 6-223 7-235

8-242 9-249

Bowling: Streak 10-0-59-4 (w-5 nb-6), Friend 6-0-31-0 (w-3), Brent 7.4-0-32-3 (w-1), Marillier 10-0-42-2 (w-1), Murphy 10-0-46-0, Nkala 3-0-21-0 (w-2 nb-1), G.Flower 2-0-9-0, Gripper 1-0-5-0

Zimbabwe

G.Flower b Vaas 2

T.Gripper c Arnold b Liyange 26

S.Carlisle run out 37

A.Flower c Muralitharan b Dharmasena 13

D.Ebrahim st Sangakkara b Dharmasena 14

D.Marillier not out 52

H.Streak st Sangakkara b Dharmasena 5

M.Nkala c Sangakkara b Muralitharan 5

G.Brent c Buddika b Arnold 8

T.Friend not out 2

Extras (lb-3 w-4) 7

Total (for eight wickets, 50 overs) 171

Did not bat: Brian Murphy

Fall of wickets: 1-5 2-66 3-66 4-93 5-99 6-111 7-125 8-149

Bowling: Vaas 6-2-19-1, Buddika 6-0-30-0 (w-1), Liyange 6-0-23-1, Muralitharan 10-1-22-1, Dharmasena 10-0-26-3, Jayasuriya 10-0-37-0 (w-3), Arnold 2-0-11-1

Result: Sri Lanka won by 79 runs

Man of the match: Mahela Jayawardene