Dropped catches, vital umpiring decisions but moreover, an utter domination by the Sri Lankan batsmen handed over another taxing day for the Zimbabwean outfit at the end of day two in the first Test in Harare.
Upul Tharanga (110*) continued his venture while Asela Gunaratne reached a half ton on his debut. The weary Zimbabwe team would have been hoping the visitors would declare any moment. However did not happen and Sri Lanka kept piling up continuous misery on the home side, requiring them to work for all ten scalps.
But, Tino Mawoyo (41*) and Hamilton Masakadza (33*) spearheaded a brave fight back for the hosts with a resolute response from their willows.
Earlier in the first session, Tharanga and Dhananjaya de Silva commenced day two. The pair displayed minimum hassle despite the slow run rate and played well considering the conditions. Cremer had the best opportunity to dismiss de Silva on 19 but wicket-keeper Peter Moor was unable to hang on to the hip-high catch.
However, Cremer rejoiced when de Silva’s lofted drive found Sean Williams at long off. The unavailability of DRS proved critical when the leg spinner was again involved in the play when Tharanga was fortunate to survive a close call for LBW. Later, Tharanga reached his sixth half ton with a boundary over deep mid-wicket in the last over before lunch while debutant Gunaratne remained on an unbeaten 23.
Shortly after lunch, Sri Lanka reached 400 as the duo continued to pile up the misery for Zimbabwe. Adding insult to injury, Tharanga was yet again dropped; this time on 66 at short extra cover by Mawoyo off Donald Tiripano’s bowling as the already depleted home team was now impeded by seven dropped catches.
Gunaratne patiently controlled his way to a half century in the following over becoming the 18th Sri Lankan batsman to score a fifty on debut and the 12th to score in his first inning. In a glimmer of hope, Williams managed to finally get a breakthrough, removing Gunaratne for 54 when his top edge carried to Cremer at mid-wicket, for a difficult catch, foiling a 99 run partnership.
The Cremer-Tharanga saga continued as another close call went in Tharanga’s favour while the veteran continued to exploit the forlorn Zimbabwean attack, maneuvering his willow towards a ton. On the flip-side, Sri Lankans were sluggish, perhaps too slow to scale a total for a feasible declaration.
Dilruwan Perera was run out for 23 before Sri Lanka summited the 500 landmark while Carl Mumba took his maiden Test wicket dismissing Rangana Herath shortly before play was halted for tea.
Resuming from 512/8, the wickets of Suranga Lakmal and Lahiru Kumara soon followed but Tharanga went on to score his second Test century. The torment finally ended for Zimbabwe when the Sri Lankan innings was ceased after stockpiling 537. Tharanga remained unbeaten on 110 while Cremer took 4 for 142.
Following an arduous essay on the field, Mawoyo and Brian Chari opened the proceedings for Zimbabwe with hopes of a revival. But expectations were short lived as Herath trapped Chari for 5 in his first over on captaincy debut.
Mazakadsa was fortunate to be dropped by Dimuth Karunaratne at first slip in the next over, perhaps for the first time in the day, the pendulum seemingly swung towards Zimbabwe. They exploited the ideal opportunity as the pair yielded 67 runs for the second wicket in a promising partnership.
Being 449 runs behind, Zimbabwe remained 88/1 at stumps. It was a long day, but considering the final session, the hosts will be happy where they stand at the moment. But a further effort remains, to gain the upper hand, or perhaps to turn the tables in this Test match.
