Sri Lanka edged out Zimbabwe by 3 wickets in the last ball of the 1st T20I encounter played at R. Premadasa International Stadium in Colombo on Sunday night.
Chasing 144 runs to win, Sri Lanka managed to pull off a close win to draw first blood in the 3-match series. Playing his first T20I in 3 years, experienced Angelo Mathews was the star for the hosts, who dragged the game till the end with a fighting 46.
Zimbabwe skipper Sikandar Raza produced a brilliant all-round effort with both bat and ball, scoring 62 runs off 42 balls and then picking up 3 wickets.
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The two all-rounders – Angelo Mathews and Dasun Shanaka bowled 2 overs apiece, giving away 13 runs each. Mathews was brought on with the new ball, whilst Shanaka bowled in the middle overs. However, their 7th wicket stand won the game for Sri Lanka when the top order and the middle order did not do their job properly.
Wanindu Hasaranga as a captain, put plenty of emphasis on fielding during the pre-match presser. Sri Lanka saved at least 10 runs with good ground fielding, whilst dropping only one chance.
In reply to Zimbabwe’s 143, Lankan opener Pathum Nissanka, after having missed the ODIs due to a dengue bug, holed out at deep square leg in the very first over. Inside the powerplay, Sri Lanka lost two more wickets – Kusal Perera and Kusal Mendis, both for 17 as the hosts’ top order concerns continued.
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Sikandar Raza struck in his first ball of the spell, dismissing Sadeera Samarawickrama for 9. He kept it tight throughout the spell. He broke the backbone of the Sri Lankan middle order in his last 3 balls, getting the better of well-set Charith Asalanka and skipper Hasaranga for a two-ball duck. Raza finished with 3 for 13 off his 4 overs.
Shanaka joined Mathews when the score was 83 at the loss of 6 wickets in 14 overs. The two batting all-rounders, put together a solid 55-run stand to take the game deep and secured the win. But with 6 runs needed off just 3 balls, Mathews holed out to deep mid-wicket.
Dushmantha Chameera, walked out to the middle, scored a four and ran in two runs in the last two balls to win the game for the hosts.
Zimbabwe, having failed to qualify for the 2024 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, pushed Sri Lanka to the maximum and will be proud of their effort.
Earlier, having been asked to bat first, Zimbabwe put up a decent 143 for 5 in their 20 overs. The openers Tinashe Kamunuhukame and Craig Ervine added 37 runs for the first wicket before Maheesh Theekshana got the better of the former for 26 in the final over of the powerplay.
Whilst Theekshana and Hasaranga bowled brilliantly in the middle period, taking two wickets apiece. Nuwan Thushara, the slinga was expensive conceding 43 off his quota of 4 overs.
The second game in the 3-match T20I series will be played on Tuesday (16th January) at the same venue.
Brief Scores
Zimbabwe – 143/5 (20) – Tinashe Kamunuhukame 26, Sikandar Raza 62, Wanindu Hasaranga 2/19, Maheesh Theekshana 2/16
Sri Lanka – 144/7 (20) – Angelo Mathews 46, Dasun Shanaka 26*, Sikandar Raza 3/13
Result
| Batsmen | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tinashe Kamunhukamwe | c Dushmantha Chameera b Maheesh Theekshana | 26 | 18 | 1 | 2 | 144.44 |
| Craig Ervine | lbw b Maheesh Theekshana | 10 | 16 | 2 | 0 | 62.50 |
| Sean Williams | c Sadeera Samarawickrama b Wanidu Hasaranga | 14 | 20 | 0 | 0 | 70.00 |
| Sikandar Raza | c Dasun Shanaka b Dushmantha Chameera | 62 | 42 | 5 | 2 | 147.62 |
| Ryan Burl | b Wanidu Hasaranga | 5 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 55.56 |
| Brian Mudzinganyama | not out | 10 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 125.00 |
| Luke Jongwe | not out | 13 | 8 | 0 | 2 | 162.50 |
| Extras | 3 (b 0 , lb 1 , nb 1, w 1, pen 0) |
| Total | 143/5 (20 Overs, RR: 7.15) |
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Angelo Mathews | 3 | 0 | 13 | 0 | 4.33 | |
| Nuwan Thushara | 3 | 0 | 46 | 0 | 15.33 | |
| Mahesh Theekshana | 4 | 0 | 16 | 2 | 4.00 | |
| Dushmantha Chameera | 4 | 0 | 38 | 1 | 9.50 | |
| Wanidu Hasaranga | 4 | 0 | 19 | 2 | 4.75 | |
| Dasun Shanaka | 2 | 0 | 13 | 0 | 6.50 | |
| Batsmen | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pathum Nissanka | c Wellington Masakadza b Richard Ngarava | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 66.67 |
| Kusal Mendis | c Wellington Masakadza b Blessing Muzarabani | 17 | 15 | 2 | 0 | 113.33 |
| Kusal Perera | c Ryan Burl b Wellington Masakadza | 17 | 13 | 3 | 0 | 130.77 |
| Sadeera Samarawickrama | b Sikandar Raza | 9 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 128.57 |
| Charith Asalanka | c Wellington Masakadza b Sikandar Raza | 16 | 22 | 1 | 0 | 72.73 |
| Angelo Mathews | c Wellington Masakadza b Blessing Muzarabani | 46 | 38 | 5 | 1 | 121.05 |
| Wanidu Hasaranga | b Sikandar Raza | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Dasun Shanaka | not out | 26 | 16 | 4 | 0 | 162.50 |
| Dushmantha Chameera | not out | 6 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 300.00 |
| Extras | 5 (b 0 , lb 1 , nb 0, w 4, pen 0) |
| Total | 144/7 (20 Overs, RR: 7.2) |
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Richard Ngarava | 4 | 0 | 34 | 1 | 8.50 | |
| Blessing Muzarabani | 4 | 0 | 33 | 2 | 8.25 | |
| Luke Jongwe | 3 | 0 | 38 | 0 | 12.67 | |
| Wellington Masakadza | 4 | 0 | 21 | 1 | 5.25 | |
| Sikandar Raza | 4 | 0 | 13 | 3 | 3.25 | |
| Sean Williams | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 4.00 | |
