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So far this series, there's been one simple rule: bat second, win the match. With Sri Lanka winning the toss and opting to field this morning, the pressure was immediately on Zimbabwe to be the exception to that rule - but setting a target has never been something that this side has looked overly comfortable with, and so it proved this morning. The innings got off to a bad start with the early departures of dynamic duo Hamilton Masakadza (4) and Brendan Taylor (19), while Craig Ervine (9) was run out before really getting a chance to settle. The fourth-wicket pairing of Tatenda Taibu (71) and Greg Lamb (37) finally managed to build a reasonable partnership, adding 90 before Taibu departed, but if there was any hope that the big hitters of the middle order, Chigumbura and Coventry, would arrive like the cavalry to save Zimbabwe's innings, it was misplaced as they too failed to make much of an impact. It didn't help that Zimbabwe waited until after their recognised batsmen had departed to call the batting powerplay, surely a tactical error on Chigumbura's part. The wickets continued to fall cheaply through the lower order, too, as Sri Lanka turned the tables and did to Zimbabwe what Zim had done to them two days earlier and bowled them out for a decidedly sub-par 199. Dilhara Fernando led the Sri Lankan bowling figures with 3/36, while Ajantha Mendis and Jeevan Mendis chipped in with a pair apiece.

While Zimbabwe's innings was slow and laboured, though, Sri Lanka had no such problem - it had been expected before the match that the pitch would become more batsman-friendly as the day went on, and the opening pair of Upul Tharanga and Tillakaratne Dilshan proved that prediction true. They looked set to see out the innings on their own and were racing along at over six an over for most of their innings before an unfortunate mixup in the 26th over led to the run-out of Tharanga for 72. That brought Dinesh Chamdinal to the crease with the score on 160/1, 40 short of the target, and he and Dilshan made short work of knocking those runs off, reaching the target in the 35th over & with Dilshan claiming his ton in the previous over. Zimbabwe's bowlers ended the match without a wicket between them - Greg Lamb was the most economical, conceding 24 runs from his six overs, but nothing really there to write home about.

No fairytale ending to the series for Zimbabwe, then, but we can still hold our heads high after some sparkling performances in the group stage. Full scorecard below the cut.
Zimbabwe 199 (49 overs; Taibu 71, Fernando 3/36), Sri Lanka 203/1 (34.4 overs; Dilshan 108*, Lamb 0/24). Sri Lanka win by 8 wickets.

Zimbabwe innings (50 overs maximum)  	
                                                R  	B  	4s  	6s  	SR  	
H Masakadza 	c †Chandimal b Kulasekara 	4 	23 	0 	0 	17.39 	
BRM Taylor 	c Samaraweera b Fernando 	19 	22 	3 	0 	86.36 	
T Taibu† 	c Kapugedera b Fernando 	71 	93 	4 	0 	76.34 	
CR Ervine 	run out (Kapugedera/Mathews) 	9 	24 	1 	0 	37.50 	
GA Lamb 	b BMAJ Mendis 	                37 	65 	1 	0 	56.92 	
E Chigumbura* 	c Dilshan b BAW Mendis 	        10 	18 	0 	0 	55.55 	
CK Coventry 	c Tharanga b BMAJ Mendis 	18 	12 	3 	0 	150.00 	
AG Cremer 	b Fernando 	                5 	10 	0 	0 	50.00 	
P Utseya 	not out 	                10 	15 	0 	0 	66.66 	
RW Price 	c Dilshan b BAW Mendis 	        0 	3 	0 	0 	0.00 	
CB Mpofu 	run out (Dilshan/†Chandimal) 	6 	9 	0 	0 	66.66 	
	Extras 	(lb 2, w 8) 	                10 					
	Total 	(all out; 49 overs) 	        199 	(4.06 runs per over)

Fall of wickets: 1-11 (Masakadza, 4.5 ov), 2-29 (Taylor, 9.3 ov), 3-49 (Ervine, 16.3 ov), 
4-139 (Taibu, 35.5 ov), 5-155 (Chigumbura, 40.1 ov), 6-163 (Lamb, 41.4 ov), 
7-178 (Coventry, 43.3 ov), 8-189 (Cremer, 45.5 ov), 9-190 (Price, 46.4 ov), 
10-199 (Mpofu, 48.6 ov)

Bowling 	O 	M 	R 	W 	Econ 		
KMDN Kulasekara 	7 	2 	17 	1 	2.42 	(2w) 	
CRD Fernando 	9 	0 	36 	3 	4.00 	(4w) 	
BAW Mendis 	10 	1 	44 	2 	4.40 		
AD Mathews 	4 	0 	14 	0 	3.50 		
S Randiv 	8 	0 	36 	0 	4.50 		
BMAJ Mendis 	9 	0 	36 	2 	4.00 	(1w) 	
TM Dilshan 	2 	0 	14 	0 	7.00 	(1w) 	
	

Sri Lanka innings (target: 200 runs from 50 overs)  	
                                                R  	B  	4s  	6s  	SR  	
WU Tharanga 	run out (Cremer/†Taibu) 	72 	79 	8 	1 	91.13 	
TM Dilshan* 	not out 	                108 	102 	14 	0 	105.88 	
LD Chandimal† 	not out 	                16 	27 	1 	0 	59.25 	
	Extras 	(lb 2, w 5) 	                7 					
	Total 	(1 wicket; 34.4 overs) 	        203 	(5.85 runs per over)

Did not bat CK Kapugedera, AD Mathews, TT Samaraweera, BMAJ Mendis, BAW Mendis, CRD Fernando, 
S Randiv, KMDN Kulasekara

Fall of wickets: 1-160 (Tharanga, 25.5 ov)

Bowling 	O 	M 	R 	W 	Econ 		
CB Mpofu 	5 	0 	36 	0 	7.20 	(1w) 	
E Chigumbura 	5 	0 	28 	0 	5.60 	(2w) 	
RW Price 	7 	0 	34 	0 	4.85 		
GA Lamb 	6 	0 	24 	0 	4.00 	(1w) 	
AG Cremer 	4.4 	0 	27 	0 	5.78 		
P Utseya 	6 	0 	44 	0 	7.33 	(1w) 	
H Masakadza 	1 	0 	8 	0 	8.00