Chevrons fall to Sri Lanka. . . Fans turned away as tickets sold out

THE city’s ceremonial home of cricket, Queens Sports Club was packed to the rafters as the Chevrons were crushed by nine wickets by Sri Lanka in a Super Six match of the 2023 Men’s Cricket World Cup Qualifiers.

Some fans had to be turned away from the stadium gates as the tickets were sold out while Zimbabwe was still batting just before 12 noon.

Thousands thronged the stadium and witnessed the Chevrons suffer their first defeat of the tournament, a crushing one.

It turned out to be a sad sight just before 13PM as disappointed fans made their way to the exit gates of the stadium, rushing for Barbourfields Stadium where Caps United was taking on Highlanders.

In the morning, long queues were seen two hours before the start of play at 7am while the game began at 9am.

It was a one sided affair at Queens Sports Club as Zimbabwe was outclassed in all aspects throughout the match. Sri Lanka flexed their muscles on their way of becoming the first team to qualify for the 2023 Men’s Cricket World Cup that will be hosted in India in October.

Sri Lanka has taken an unassailable eight points in the Super Six stage and qualify with a game left to spare.

They go on to face the West Indies in Harare for their last match before the final at Harare Sports Club on Sunday.

For the Chevrons, the defeat meant that they have to win their game tomorrow against Scotland to also get to eight points and qualify for the World Cup.

In their dismal performance against Sri Lanka yesterday, the Chevrons were sent in to bat first and were bowled out for just 165 runs in 32,2 overs with only one half century in their innings.

It was Sean Williams who, once again, stepped up when needed the most and top scored for the Chevrons with 56 runs from 57 deliveries while Sikandar Raza fell for 31 runs off 51 balls.

The duo managed to stabilise the sinking Chevrons ship with a half century stand for the fourth wicket.

The team’s third leading run scorer was Ryan Burl with 16 runs from 15 balls. Sri Lankan spinners were once again the difference as Zimbabwe joined the other five teams who failed to score more than 200 runs against the Asian Champions.

Maheesh Theekshana was named player of the match for the second time in a row after a brilliant bowling spell of 4/25 in 8,2 overs while Dilshan Madushanka took three scalps for 15 runs in five overs.

The tournament’s leading wicket taker, Wanindu Hasaranga had no wickets under his name for the first time.

There was nothing to write home about from the Chevrons’ bowling with Richard Ngarava taking the only wicket of Dimuth Karunaratne who fell for 30 runs off 56 balls with the match nearing the end. Ngarava gave away 35 runs in his seven over spell as the Lankans chased down the target in 33,1 overs, finishing on 169/1. Pathum Nissanka top scored with an unbeaten 101 runs from 102 balls.
Yesterday’s heavy defeat affected the Chevrons’ Net Run Rate as they are now on 0,030 while third placed Scotland is on 0,188.

Only one result stands between Zimbabwe and a ticket to India and should things go south against Scotland tomorrow, the Chevrons’ hopes will now be calculated through Net Run Rate.

If the Chevrons lose, they will finish on six points and will be hoping that the Netherlands beat Scotland on Thursday so that the latter does not get to eight points. Netherlands are on two points and are up against Oman today in Harare.
Tomorrow’s match starts at 9AM. – @brandon_malvin