Watch: Sri Lanka clinched a thriller against Zimbabwe by two wickets at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo yesterday (January 8) to lead the three-match ODI series 1-0.
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After the first ODI was washed out, Zimbabwe won the toss and elected to bat first in the second. They didn’t start well, losing a wicket on the third ball of the innings.
Captain Craig Ervine then anchored the innings for the visitors, scoring 82 off 102 balls at No. 3. Several other batters got starts, but no one else crossed 50 as a lower order collapse from 182-4 saw them get bowled out for 208.
Maheesh Theekshana was the pick of the bowlers for Sri Lanka, picking up 4-31. Dushmantha Chameera and Jeffrey Vandersay took two each as well.
Zimbabwe needed regular wickets to stay in the game while defending a small total, and they got them. 16-2, 53-4, 90-5 – the Zimbabwe new ball bowlers Richard Ngarava (5-32) and Blessing Muzarabani (1-41) didn’t let the hosts stitch a 50-plus partnership for the first six wickets.
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At 112-6, Zimbabwe looked in control before Janith Liyanage added 56 runs for the seventh wicket with Theekshana (18 off 31). Having come in to bat at No.4, Liyanage was the lone ranger in the Sri Lankan top order as he scored 95 off 127 before getting out in the 43rd over at the score of 172-8.
With Sri Lanka still needing 37 runs and no recognised batter left, Zimbabwe were right on top, but they somehow let the momentum slip. Chameera and Vandersay stuck around patiently while also finding the occasional boundary.
With 11 needed off the last two overs, rain started getting heavier as well to add to the drama. Vandersay hit the second and third balls of the over, bowled by Faraz Akram, for fours bring it down to just three off the last nine balls. Chameera then finished it off with another boundary three balls later to cap off a thrilling victory.
With this, the hosts took a 1-0 lead in the series with one more match to go.
