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Brandon Moyo Sports Reporter
SRI Lanka Cricket yesterday named their final One Day International (ODI) squad for their home series against Zimbabwe which gets underway on Saturday at the R. Premadasa International Cricket Stadium in Colombo.
The Lions have picked a 17-member team from the 21 players that were named in the preliminary squad last week. Chamika Karunaratne, Chamika Gunasekara, Asitha Fernando and Kamindu Mendis are the four players who missed out on final selection.
Sri Lanka’s One Day team will be led by Kusal Mendis, taking over from Dasun Shanaka while Charith Asalanka will be the vice-captain. However, news coming from Sri Lanka is that their stall all-rounder and spinning wizard Wanindu Hasaranga will have to wait a few more days to make a return to international cricket.
It is believed that the 26-year-old will likely miss the first two ODIs, scheduled for Saturday, January 6 and Monday, January 8 but will be available for the third and final ODI pencilled for Thursday, January 11. He who was the leading wicket taker during the 2023 World Cup Qualifiers, and last played international cricket before the World Cup due to a hamstring tear and underwent a successful surgery.
This will be Zimbabwe’s first bilateral visit to the island nation since January 2022. In their last visit to Sri Lanka, they played three ODIs and the Lions won the series 2-1.
Sri Lanka picked a talented team for the ODI series which also has the likes of 2023 International Cricket Council (ICC) Emerging Cricketer of the Year nominee, Dilshan Madushanka. Leg spinner, Jeffery Vandersay is also in line to make his first ODI appearance since January 2023.
The Chevrons have shown good form against the Lions in recent years, including a stunning 3-2 ODI series win during their tour of Sri Lanka in 2017; however, the latter enjoys a good track record over the former and will be favourites playing at home.
Apart from bilateral cricket, Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka last played together in white ball cricket in July in the 2023 World Cup Qualifiers where the Lankans prevailed after a dominant performance.
They convincingly won the match by nine wickets in front of a sold out Queens Sports Club.
Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka have played each other 61 times in ODIs and the Lankans enjoy dominance over the Chevrons. From those 61 matches, Sri Lanka has won 47 games whereas Zimbabwe has been victorious on 12 occasions. Two matches have had no results.
Sri Lanka will also be favourites going into the series as they have won 12 times at home while losing on three occasions only. They enjoy a 77, 04 win percentage over the Chevrons. After the ODIs, the two teams will play three T20 matches scheduled for January 14, 16 and 18.
SRI LANKA FINAL ODI SQUAD FOR CHEVRONS TOUR:
Kusal Mendis (captain), Charith Asalanka (vice-captain), Wanindu Hasaranga, Pathum Nissanka, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Dasun Shanaka, Dushmantha Chameera, Maheesh Theekshana, Avishka Fernando, Nuwanidu Fernando, Dunith Wellalage, Janith Liyanage, Akila Dhananjaya, Sahan Arachchige, Dilshan Madushanka, Pramod Madushan, Jeffrey Vandersay. — @brandon_malvin
Online Reporter