Chronicle EditorBrandon Moyo, [email protected]
A CRAIG Ervine half century and a Luke Jongwe/Clive Madande last over cameo were all Zimbabwe needed to win their first ever T20I match against Sri Lanka and their first on Lankan soil after registering a four wicket victory in yesterday’s thriller at the R Premadasa International Cricket Stadium (RPICS) IN Colombo.
They have kept the series alive and are now tied one all with only a game left to spare.
Sri Lanka’s head coach Chris Silverwood could not even stomach what he was seeing in the dramatic last over where veteran all rounder Angelo Mathews was tasked with defending 20 runs but went for 25 in five deliveries. A no ball in the first delivery of the final over, a drop catch in the fourth and a maximum in the last left Silverwood an unhappy man.
It was agony for Silverwood and the Sri Lankan camp but ecstasy for the Chevrons camp, who for the fourth time, chased a score above 170 runs in T20I history. Jongwe couldn’t even describe the feeling during the post match interview.
After winning the toss and electing to field first, the Chevrons had a dream start to the match before the wheels fell off in the later stages of their bowling innings. Sri Lanka crept back into the game with the bat to finish on 173/6 before Zimbabwe put up a fantastic chase to finish on 178/6 in 19, 5 overs.
The 351 runs scored is the highest aggregate involving Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka in T20Is.
During the post match interview, an elated Chevrons skipper, Sikandar Raza said they managed to stick to their game plan, being on the back foot for some time, they never panicked and their fighting spirit helped them cross the line.
“I have said it before; this is a group of boys that will turn the ship around. They made a promise to their country and to their fans and today was just incredible. They (Sri Lanka) had the momentum but I told the boys; it’s not that they scored too many runs and we can’t win, I wasn’t angry, and we were not panicking. We wanted to be 80 after 10 overs with minimum but we got there in the 11th over, we were just behind but we remained calm, we have got a history of fighting back,” said Raza.
It was a dream start with the ball for Zimbabwe with Blessing Muzarabani drawing first blood, taking two in two. He opener Pathum Nissanka caught by Jongwe with just one run before going on to get the new man, Kusal Perera for a golden duck, leaving Sri Lanka in all sorts of troubles of 1/2. Muzarabani would go on to finish with figures of 2/36 in four overs while Jongwe also claimed two scalps for 32 runs while Richard Ngarava and Wellington Masakadza took one apiece.
However, a 118 fifth wicket partnership between Mathews and Charith Asalanka helped the Lankans reach a good score. As the two started batting together, Sri Lanka was on 27/4 in 4,4 overs and by the time Asalanka fell for 69 runs off 39 balls, the hosts were now on 145/5 in 17,5 overs. Mathews remained undefeated on 66 runs from 51 balls.
Zimbabwe’s chase got off to a good start before losing the wicket of Tinashe Kamunhukamwe for 12 runs. It was Ervien and Brian Bennett who managed to steer the ship with a 74-run stand for the second wicket which was that of Bennett for 25 runs from 20 balls. Ervine top scored with a brilliant 70 runs off 54 balls, his ninth T20I half century and his career best score.
Needing 30 runs to win from the last two overs with Jongwe and Madande in the middle, the duo only managed to score 10 runs, leaving them with a tough task in the last over.
With Jongwe facing the last over, he got off to the best possible start, hitting a six off Mathews (a delivery that was deemed a no ball, thus seven runs). The following delivery (still number one) went for four and the next one was yet another maximum. The third ball was dot and in the next delivery, Maheesh Theekshana dropped Jongwe, giving him a lifeline. It was Madande who finished it off with a six!
For his brilliant all round performance, Jongwe was named player of the match. He finished unbeaten on 25 runs off 12 balls while Madande was on 15 from five.
The series decider is penciled for tomorrow at the same venue, starting at 15.30pm (Zimbabwean time). — @brandon_malvin
Online Reporter