Madushanka’s final-over hat-trick turns a cliffhanger Sri Lanka’s way
A hat-trick in the last over decided the series opener, and it belonged to Dilshan Madushanka. Sri Lanka beat Zimbabwe by seven runs on August 29, 2025 in a tense finish that swung all evening and only settled when Madushanka hit the perfect notes at the death. The game was tight, the nerves were real, and a crowd that had spent 100 overs on the edge finally exhaled when the final wicket fell.
Batting first, Sri Lanka put up 298/6 on a pitch that made strokeplay look harder than the score suggested. The start was steady rather than flashy, with Pathum Nissanka and Kamindu Mendis doing the early lifting to keep the innings upright. Zimbabwe’s seamers hit their lengths, and for a good hour it looked like a 260 sort of day. Then the tempo flipped.
Kusal Mendis and Janith Liyanage unleashed the partnership that changed the tone and, in the end, the result: 137 runs in just 83 balls. It was clean, calculated acceleration—strike rotation early, then boundary bursts as the ball softened and the field spread. By the time the pair split, Sri Lanka had turned a tricky platform into a scoreboard that forced Zimbabwe to chase at pace on a surface where new batters needed time.
The hosts’ finish was measured rather than wild. They kept wickets in hand, picked their matchups, and pushed the total to the edge of 300—enough to keep Zimbabwe under constant pressure, but not so large that the chase ever felt out of reach. That balance set up a second innings full of swings.
Zimbabwe’s reply started in chaos. Both openers—Brian Bennett and Brendan Taylor—were gone in the first over. Two wickets down before the innings could breathe, and Sri Lanka’s new ball had sliced the chase open. From there, Ben Curran and Sean Williams did the hard yards no highlights reel shows: they rebuilt. Their 118-run stand steadied the chase and put the heat back on Sri Lanka’s bowlers.
Curran’s 70 was busy and precise—nudges, gaps, and the odd punch through cover—while Williams anchored the other end. When Williams fell sweeping, the innings jolted again. A couple of quick dismissals followed, and Sri Lanka sniffed control. It didn’t last long.
Sikandar Raza arrived with intent and composure, and Tony Munyonga matched his tempo. Their 128-run partnership was the smartest batting of the night: run rate in check, risks managed, pressure redistributed. Raza marshaled the chase, picking his moments to find the rope, and kept Zimbabwe in the hunt even as Sri Lanka shuffled fields and cycled their quicks. Munyonga’s 43 off 52 was the kind of low-glamour contribution that wins chases nine times out of ten—calm, uncluttered, and geared to the target.
Into the final over, it was anyone’s game. Raza, on 92, still felt like the one man who could tilt it. Then Madushanka found something extra. He had been expensive earlier, but the last six balls were a different story: pace, length, clarity. Raza’s dismissal in that over broke the chase’s spine, and two more wickets followed in a rush to complete the hat-trick. Zimbabwe closed on 291/8—close enough to sting, not close enough to steal it.
Madushanka’s 4/62 will be remembered for the three-in-three that sealed it, but the spell also told a story of adjustment: rough overs up front, better lines later, and a nerveless finish. Asitha Fernando’s 3/50 mattered just as much in the middle overs, where he cut off easy singles and made Zimbabwe fight for every run. Between them—and one more member of the pace unit who held firm at the death—Sri Lanka’s fast bowling stacked up the little wins that mattered in the last five overs.
Sri Lanka captain Charith Asalanka praised the death bowling as “amazing,” and it was hard to argue. The fields were sharp, the lengths were fuller, and the yorkers finally landed when they had to. On a day when Raza nearly engineered another heist, Sri Lanka’s composure under pressure was the difference.
For Sri Lanka, the template worked: a measured start, a burst through the middle, and a finish that gave their bowlers a defendable target. For Zimbabwe, there were big positives despite the result. Curran’s control at No. 3, Williams’ stability, and Raza’s command kept them within touching distance. Munyonga’s calm head in a high-chase scenario is a box they’ll happily tick.
This result hands Sri Lanka a 1-0 lead and momentum, but it also sets up the rest of the series nicely. Zimbabwe showed they can live with the hosts over 100 overs. If their top order avoids that first-over wreck next time, the equation changes fast. Sri Lanka, meanwhile, will want their new ball to hit the same channels and their middle-overs spin and pace to keep that squeeze. The biggest pressing note? Keep Madushanka fresh and confident for the last five overs—he just proved he can close.
Key numbers that framed the night:
- Sri Lanka 298/6 in 50 overs; Zimbabwe 291/8 in 50 overs.
- Mendis–Liyanage stand: 137 off 83 balls.
- Zimbabwe rebuilds: Curran–Williams 118; Raza–Munyonga 128.
- Top scorers: Sikandar Raza 92; Ben Curran 70; Tony Munyonga 43 (52).
- Bowling: Dilshan Madushanka 4/62 (hat-trick in final over); Asitha Fernando 3/50.
- Margin: Sri Lanka won by 7 runs; series 1-0.
As narratives go, this was classic Sri Lanka vs Zimbabwe: a scrap, a surge, a twist, and a finish. The batters wrote the early chapters, but the final page belonged to a left-arm quick who found three perfect deliveries when his team needed them the most.
What decided it: phases, pressure, and small margins
Three passages told the story. First, Sri Lanka’s late charge from Mendis and Liyanage stretched a par total into a testing one on a surface that punished new batters. Second, Asitha’s control through the middle took time out of Zimbabwe’s chase and forced them to play catch-up in the last 10. Third, Madushanka’s closing burst—after a tough day—showed why death overs are a mindset as much as a skill.
Zimbabwe will replay that first over in their heads. Starting two down meant every stand had to be close to perfect. To their credit, they found two of them. But chases that need three flawless acts often run out of luck at the finish. The difference between 1-0 either way came down to a handful of balls—and one hat-trick.
