HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP)

Ajantha Mendis took six wickets and Jehan Mubarak top-scored with 60 not out yesterday to steer Sri Lanka to a two-wicket win over Zimbabwe and a 4-0 lead in the five-match, limited-overs series.

After Mendis took 6-29 from nine overs with his ability to spin the ball either way to help bowl out Zimbabwe for 146, Mubarak scored the only half-century in the match as Sri Lanka won with 15 balls to spare at Harare Sports Club.

Tawanda Mupariwa and Elton Chigumbura each took three wickets to bring Zimbabwe within sight of its first victory of the series, but Mubarak hit one of six boundaries in his 99-ball innings through the covers off Chigum-bura for the winning runs.

Wonderful batting

"He really batted well today," Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene said of Mubarak. "It was good to see because he came into the side not so long ago. He took responsibility and batted sensibly, It was good to see the investments we made four to five years ago coming right for us."

Sri Lanka can seal a whitewash series victory if they win the final match tomorrow.

"We knew it was going to be tough and we created problems for ourselves," Jayawardene said. "We knew it was a slow track where the ball would not come onto the bat, so it wasn't good for us to lose wickets upfront."

"The biggest thing is that we are improving with each outing," Zimbabwe captain Prosper Utseya said. "We came close on Monday and today we came close again. We showed all-round improvement. What we need is to put decent totals on the scoreboard to reduce pressure on the bowlers."