Herath finished with figures of 5-89 off 26 overs
Image courtesy of: ESPNcricinfo
Rangana Herath left Zimbabwe in a spin on Tuesday as he added another five-wicket haul to his tally to keep Sri Lanka in complete control in Harare.
Herath’s five-for against Zimbabwe marked a special milestone for the 38-year-old as he becomes just the third bowler in Test history after Muttiah Muralitharan and Dale Steyn to take a five-wicket haul against all the other Test playing nations.
Furthermore, Herath claimed his 27th five-for, joining Ian Botham in sixth place on the all-time list.
Starting off the day on 126/2, Zimbabwe lost Craig Ervine early on for 64, which came off 112 balls and included eight boundaries, as he was dismissed by Suranga Lakmal.
Brian Chari, who began the day unbeaten on 60, went on to make 80 runs off 158 deliveries, which included nine boundaries and two sixes, before he was clean bowled by Herath.
Malcolm Waller fell shortly after for 18, while all-rounder Sean Williams managed to make 58 off 93 balls, which included eight boundaries, before he was trapped lbw off the bowling of Dilruwan Perera.
Williams scored his first Test fifty
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Following Williams’ dismissal, Zimbabwe’s lower order collapsed as they went from 253/6 to being bowled out for 272, which gave Sri Lanka a 232-run lead.
Herath was the pick of the bowlers with five wickets, while Perera snapped up three and Lakmal chipped in with two.
With a 232-run lead in hand, Sri Lanka did not get off to the best of starts as Carl Mumba ripped through their top order with the help of captain Graeme Cremer to leave the tourists in a spot of bother at 84/4.
Dimuth Karunaratne and Asela Gunaratne ensured Sri Lanka did not lose any more wickets as they amassed an unbeaten 18-run partnership, during which Karunaratne brought up his half-century, before stumps was called.
Karunaratne finished on 54 off 119 balls, which included five boundaries, while Gunaratne remained undefeated on six off 27 deliveries, which included one boundary.
Karunaratne struck five boundaries during his unbeaten knock of 54
Image courtesy of: ESPNcricinfo
Mumba was the most successful bowler with three wickets, while Cremer took one.
Sri Lanka ended day three on 102/4 and will continue batting on Wednesday at 10:00 local time or 08:00 GMT.