Watch: Sri Lanka clinched a last-ball thriller to win the first T20I against Zimbabwe by three wickets yesterday (January 14) at Colombo.

With six runs needed off the last two deliveries, tailender Dushmantha Chameera hit a four from the penultimate ball and ran two off the final delivery to stretch Sri Lanka’s unbeaten record in T20Is against Zimbabwe.

The hosts’ victory came after a rescue act from veteran Angelo Mathews, playing his first T20I since 2021. While chasing 144, Sri Lanka were teetering at 51-4 when Matthews arrived at the crease. He put on 32 runs off 39 balls for the fifth wicket with Charith Asalanka. However, twin strikes from Sikandar Raza in the form of Asalanka and Hasaranga reduced Sri Lanka to 83-6 after 14 overs.

In another period of consolidation, Mathews partnered with ex-captain Dasun Shanaka to stitch a 55-run stand, bringing the home side closer to the finish line. Shanaka, who was axed as Sri Lanka’s limited-overs captain in the aftermath of the 2023 World Cup debacle, ended with an unbeaten 26.

Sri Lanka needed 14 runs in the last over. Mathews hit fours off the first two balls by Blessing Muzarabani to bring down the equation to six from four. However, he holed out to the mid-wicket fielder while trying to smash another boundary and returned with a well-crafted 46 off 38 deliveries, including five fours and a six. Chameera gunned down the remaining runs to hand Sri Lanka a narrow win.

For Zimbabwe, captain Raza was the pick of their performers. After hitting a 42-ball 62, his fifth fifty on the trot, Raza returned bowling figures of 3-13. With that fine all-round effort, Raza became the first player to score five half-centuries in consecutive T20I innings, and took at least two wickets in each of those matches.

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