Maiden Mire century leads Zimbabwe to historic win

Solomon Mire scored his maiden One-Day International century on Friday to take Zimbabwe to a famous six-wicket win over Sri Lanka in the first of five games and add to the pressure on the home side.

Mire hit 112 off 96 balls as Zimbabwe got to 322 for 4 to pass Sri Lanka's 316 for 5 in just 47.4 overs – it was the first instance of a visiting team chasing down a 300-plus target in an ODI in Sri Lanka.

Mire, known to be a quick scorer, was dropped twice as Sri Lanka’s bowling and fielding collapsed – Angelo Mathews, its captain, said after the game: “Having 315 on the board, I thought it was enough. Our bowling was poor and our fielding was pathetic.”

Apart from Mire’s century, Sikandar Raza hit an unbeaten 67 and Sean Williams 65 as Zimbabwe won the first ODI to be held at Galle International Stadium in 17 years.

The day did not start badly for Sri Lanka after Mathews won the toss and chose to bat. Kusal Mendis hit 86 off 80 balls as Sri Lanka scored big runs off the Zimbabwe attack on a slow pitch. Upul Tharanga hit 79, Danushka Gunathilaka 60 and Mathews 43 in 30 balls.

But from there, the script went away from Sri Lanka.

Mire, who also bowled seven overs before coming out as opening batsman, hit 14 fours and shared 161 for the third wicket with Williams to put Zimbabwe on course for victory. Raza hit the winning runs with a six to complete the victory.

Zimbabwe still has four ODIs and a Test left on the tour, where it must expect Sri Lanka, which has faced increasing pressure after a poor run of performances of late, to bounce back.