This one was a thriller!!!
The 2nd ODI between Sri Lanka vs Zimbabwe at the Premadas Stadium in Colombo yesterday was a hum-dinger. The hosts kept their nerves in the end when the batting tail wagged incessantly to take them across the finish line. This result gives Sri Lanka a 1-0 lead in the 3-match series between the two, with the 1st ODI washed out.
Toss and Conditions
The 2nd ODI between Sri Lanka vs Zimbabwe saw the Zimbabwe captain, Craig Ervine, win the toss and he had no hesitation in batting as the rain was again expected to play spoilsport during the match. The pitch at Premadasa Stadium has a team preferring to start anyway, but it does have something for the bowlers in the powerplay.
Zimbabwe stumbles early but then settles down
The visitors lost their opener, Tinashe, in the first over itself. The skipper then took it upon himself to build the innings and played a captain’s knock of 82 in 102 balls. He was unlucky to miss out on a century. He was well supported by Joylord Gumbie, who made 30 in 37 balls. The 2nd wicket partnership of 60 runs was a decent foundation for Zimbabwe to build a decent score.
But none of the middle-order batters showed the gumption to go big in their innings. Ryan Burl showed intent in his 31 runs but was bowled by Chameera. The tail offered no resistance, and Zimbabwe was all-out for 208. Maahaeesh Theekshana was the pick of the bowlers with four wickets for 31, followed by Chammera with 2 for 44, and Jeffrey Vandersay took 2 for 47.
Poor Start by Sri Lanka
An overconfident Sri Lanka seemed to have lost the plot when they lost early wickets. Zimbabwe pacer Richard Ngarava had the batters struggling with his incisive left-arm pace bowling, leaving the hosts at 90 for 5 in the middle of their innings.
Liyanage stamps his authority.
Janith Litanage stood like a rock between victory and Zimbabwe. He was solid in his defence, waited patiently for the bad balls and looked to take the match deep. His well-made 95 in 127 balls was the foundation for Sri Lanka’s win.
Match evenly poised
The match had a 50 50 probability until Litange and Arachchige were at the crease. Sikander Raza bowled one on the pads of Arachchige that found him standing in the front of the crease. Zimbabwe seemed to have the upper hand after the dismissal of Liayanage in the 43rd over, with the hosts still needing 36 runs with two wickets left.
Zimbabwe tried hard, but…
Lower-order batters Chameera and Vandersay kept their nerves and stood like a wall against the Zimbabwe bowlers who gave it their all. Egged by the home crowd support, the pair took them across the finish line in the second-last over to earn a well-deserved win.
Ngarava was the star bowler for Zimbabwe, with a five-wicket haul for 32 runs in his ten overs.
The next match in the Sri Lanka vs Zimbabwe series will be played on 11th January, with the hosts looking to wrap up the series and visitors playing for pride to level it. The hosts seem to have the upper hand now and look set to clinch another series win at home. Let us see.