World Cup warm-up: Zimbabwe stun Sri Lanka by 7 wickets

Lincoln (New Zealand), Feb 11: Zimbabwe today stunned 1996 champions Sri Lanka in a ICC World Cup 2015 warm-up match. Hamilton Masakadza and Sean Williams were the stars of the triumph.

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Masakadza (117 not out, 119 balls, 8x4, 3x6) hit an unbeaten century to guide Zimbabwe's run chase of 280 and there were useful contributions from Brendan Taylor (63, 68 balls, 6x4) and Williams (51 not out, 46 balls, 7x4) at the Bert Sutcliffe Oval on Wednesday. (List of commentators)

Zimbabwe cruised to victory in 45.2 overs with 7 wickets to spare. Williams sealed the victory with a boundary off Thisara Perera. Sri Lanka's strike bowler Lasith Malinga was wicketless in his 7 overs and conceded 46 runs.

This victory will boost Zimbabwe's confidence ahead of their World Cup opener against South Africa on Sunday (February 15). However, this result will not be part of the official records as practice matches do not have ODI status. Sri Lanka face New Zealand in the World Cup opening game on February 14.

Earlier, Sri Lanka posted 279/8 in 50 overs. Dimuth Karunaratne top scored with 58 (71 balls, 3x4) while Jeevan Mendis made 51 (51 balls, 4x4). Mahela Jayawardene was dismissed for 30 while opener Kumar Sangakkara was out for just 8.

Brief Scores

Sri Lanka 279/8 in 50 overs (Dimuth Karunaratne 58, Jeevan Mendis 51, Lahiru Thirimanne 30, Mahela Jayawardene 30, Dinesh Chandimal 29, Sachithra Senanayake 25 not out, Sean Williams 3/35, Tinashe Panyangara 1/37, Tawanda Mupariwa 1/25, Prosper Utseya 1/34, Solomon Mire 1/29)

Zimbabwe 281/3 in 45.2 overs (Hamilton Masakadza 117 not out, Brendan Taylor 63, Sean Williams 51 not out, Nuwan Kulasekara 1/23, Suranga Lakmal 1/56, Tillakaratne Dilshan 1/27)

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