Online Reporter
Eddie Chikamhi-Zimpapers Sports Hub
A HAT-TRICK final over by Sri Lanka’s Dilshan Madushanka made the big difference as hosts Zimbabwe succumbed to a heartbreaking seven-run defeat in the first of the One Day International cricket Series at Harare Sports Club yesterday.
The Chevrons had put up a strong fight with the bat after recovering from the loss of two wickets for nought in the first over, chasing a colossal target of 299 runs.
The game sat on the knife edge for most of the afternoon, raising hopes and excitement among the fans in the terraces.
But Zimbabwe came just short when they lost three wickets and ended their innings on 291/8 on a roller coaster afternoon.
All-rounder Sikandar Raza led the fightback with 92 runs while Ben Curren (70), Sean Williams (57) and Tony Munyonga (42) weighed in with key knocks.
“I mean ultimately it was a good game of cricket in the end,” said Curren.
“I think there’s a lot of positives we can take from that, both in the field and with the bat, and again, we can always go back and look at the game.
“There’s going to be areas where we can definitely improve and yeah, they were just better at the end there.”
Zimbabwe won the toss and sent in the Sri Lankans to bat first.
The tourists started off slowly but then accelerated in the final overs to pile up a colossal 298/6 in their allotted 50 overs.
To their credit, the Chevrons bowlers appeared in control early on although wickets were sparse.
Richard Ngarava took 2-34 while there was a wicket each for Blessing Muzarabani, Trevor Gwandu, Sikandar Raza and stand-in captain Sean Williams.
Opening batsman Pathum Nissanka helped secure the Sri Lanka innings with a knock of 76 runs from 90 balls.
Middle order batters Kamindu Mendis (57) and Janith Liyanage (70*) were brutal with a partnership of 137 runs from 93 balls. This partnership was only broken by the last ball of the innings when Ngarava returned from injury and uprooted the middle stump of Mendis.
But then the hosts let their opponents off the hook the last 10 overs. In response, Zimbabwe immediately encountered a serious setback at the start losing two quick wickets for nought in the first over.
Brian Bennett was caught by the first ball of Farnando and then Brendan Taylor, who was playing his first ODI in four years after returning from a ban, also went out in the opening over after facing just three balls.
Zimbabwe were two wickets down for nought.
But stand-in captain Sean Williams and Ben Curren did well to steady the ship with a 117-run partnership for the third wicket.
The run rate was always going to be an issue but Zimbabwe patiently built their innings with Raza and Munyonga reigniting the hopes thanks to a 128-run partnership for the sixth wicket.
The pair did a lot of running between the wickets, with seven boundaries between them after facing 115 balls, before Madushanka tilted the game in Sri Lanka’ s favour by bowling out Raza with the first ball of the 50th over. Zimbabwe needed 10 runs from six balls and it appeared to be anyone’s game.
Then new batter Bradley Evans was removed the next ball, followed by Ngarava to hand Madushanka his hattrick and the Man of the Match award.
Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka will meet in the second and final ODI tomorrow.
“Sri Lanka are a very good side, I think they’re fourth in the world in the ODI rankings, so it’s one of those where we’ve got to take the positives from today,” said Curren.
“Obviously, all the fans and everyone’s disappointed, but individually and as a team we’re going to take the positives of what we did well today, rectify those slight judgements where we potentially could have done better or something different, learn from it, and come Sunday we’ll be confident that we can get the win.”
Zimbabwe also had to grapple injuries with skipper Craig Ervine ruled out after suffering a calf injury on the eve of the first match.
An MRI scan conducted on Thursday confirmed that Ervine suffered a Grade II strain in his left calf as well as a chronic and resolving Grade I strain in his right calf. In his absence, Williams will captain Zimbabwe in the ODI series
The hosts suffered yet another setback early on as Brendan Taylor had to be withdrawn from behind the stumps after a finger injury in the second over and was replaced by Clive Madande.
