Sikandar Raza struck his 10th half-century in ODI cricket
Image courtesy of: ESPNcricinfo
Sikandar Raza hammered an unbeaten 81 and took a wicket as Zimbabwe secured their third successive victory over Sri Lanka after beating them by 12 runs in Mirpur.
In their last two meetings, which came July last year, Zimbabwe beat Sri Lanka in the fourth and fifth ODIs to claim a historic 3-2 series win.
Being put in to bat first, Zimbabwe made a fantastic start to their innings as Solomon Mire and Hamilton Masakadza amassed a 75-run partnership before Mire was caught by Kusal Mendis at short midwicket off the bowling of Thisara Perera for 34.
Craig Ervine fell shortly after, but Masakadza and Brendan Taylor steadied the innings with a 57-run partnership, during which Masakadza brought up his half-century.
Hamilton Masakadza raises his bat upon bringing up his 32nd ODI fifty
Image courtesy of: ESPNcricinfo
Masakadza ended up making 73 off 83 balls, which included 10 boundaries, before he was dismissed by Asela Gunaratne.
Taylor proceeded to score 38 before Malcolm Waller and Raza worked in tandem to add 57 runs to Zimbabwe’s score.
Waller ended up falling for 29, but Raza took over from that point and dominated the 61-run stand he put together with Peter Moor.
Despite Moor being removed for 19, Zimbabwe finished on 290/6 thanks to Raza’s unbeaten 81, which came off 67 balls and included eight boundaries and a six.
Gunaratne was the pick of the bowlers with three wickets, while Thisara snapped up two and Suranga Lakmal chipped in with one.
Chasing 291 to win, Sri Lanka got off to a quick start before opener Upul Tharanga was caught by Moor at mid-on off the bowling of Kyle Jarvis for 11.
Kusal Mendis was dismissed for a duck the very next over as he was caught by Zimbabwe captain Graeme Cremer at mid-on off the bowling of Tendai Chatara.
Captain Angelo Mathews and Kusal Perera stabilised the innings with an 85-run partnership, during which Kusal raced past his fifty.
Kusal Perera made his ninth ODI fifty
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Kusal ended up making 80 off 83 balls, which included eight boundaries and two sixes, before he was dismissed by Raza.
Mathews went on to make 42 before he was caught by Raza at midwicket off the bowling of Blessing Muzarabani.
Once Mathews was gone, Sri Lanka began to lose wickets at regular intervals. However, Thisara put up a fight as he smashed 64 off 37 balls, which included five boundaries and three sixes.
Thisara Perera scored his eighth ODI fifty
Image courtesy of: ESPNcricinfo
However, his efforts ended up going in vain as Sri Lanka were bowled out for 278.
Chatara was the most successful bowler with four wickets, while Jarvis and Cremer snapped up two wickets apiece. As for Raza and Muzarabani, they claimed one wicket each.
Mathews was gutted to have lost, and said: “We were scrappy from the outset, gave away too many runs in the first 10 overs. They had the wickets in the last 10 overs to capitalise on it. The wicket settled a little bit after the dew came in, but we also had wickets in hand.
“The run rate was pretty good, but we just kept losing wickets. Thisara was fantastic with bat and ball and Kusal batted brilliantly. Unfortunately the others couldn’t convert that. Lots of positives. We can certainly improve and come back harder next time.”
Cremer was relieved to have won the match, and said: “We could not have hoped for anything better with the bat. Sikandar came good with bat and ball. Shows the character of the team to bounce back after the beating in the last game.
“At one point, we thought 260 would be a par score. We know the quality Sri Lanka have in their batting so credit to our bowlers as well. We now play Sri Lanka again in the next game. It will be interesting to see how Sri Lanka vs Bangladesh goes.”
Raza was named Man of the Match, and said: “I did plenty wrong. The way I started with the ball was exactly what the team didn’t want. But the way we bounced back showed our character. I think Solo did exactly what we asked for. We trust Solo with decision-making and he’s one of the best hitters of the ball.
“The partnership with Brendan, and in the end with PJ Moor came in handy. We showed a lot of character. We always knew one wicket would bring another. We always wanted that wicket of Thisara and we did get that.”