Sri Lanka achieved a 3-wicket victory over Zimbabwe in the first SL vs ZIM T20I match played at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo. Angelo Mathews starred for Sri Lanka and played an innings of 46 runs. Before the T20I series, Sri Lanka were able to win the ODI series by 2-0 whereas the first match was abandoned.
Batting first in Colombo, Zimbabwe put up a score of 143/5 in their 20 overs. Openers Craig Ervine and Tinashe Kamunhukamwe added 37 runs for the first wicket and gave their team a decent start. However, Tinashe Kamunhukamwe was dismissed 26 runs from 18 balls and hit 1 four and 2 sixes throughout his innings. Ervine was also dismissed in the same over by Maheesh Theekshana for 10 runs from 16 balls, his innings consisted of 2 fours.
After losing two quick wickets, Sean Williams and Sikandar Raza took the onus on their shoulders and added 45 runs for the 3rd wicket. Williams was the third batter to get dismissed and got out for 14 runs from 20 balls. Raza was the main highlight of the Zimbabwean innings as firstly he put up a stand of 20 runs from 16 balls for the 4th wicket with Ryan Burl (5) whereas he later added 26 runs from 16 balls with Brian Bennet.
143/5 on the board for Zimbabwe. Hasaranga and Theekshana with two wickets each! Time for some fireworks.
🔴LIVE: https://t.co/YCHINMbYyG#SLvZIM pic.twitter.com/rS62QdsCOQ
— Sri Lanka Cricket 🇱🇰 (@OfficialSLC) January 14, 2024
Sikandar Raza was finally dismissed by Dushmantha Chameera for 62 runs from 42 balls and hit 5 fours and 2 sixes in his innings. After Raza’s departure, Brian Bennett (10*) and Luke Jongwe (13*) gave a much-needed finish to the Zimbabwean innings and added 14 runs off 9 balls for the 6th wicket.
Wanindu Hasaranga and Maheesh Theekshana picked up 2 wickets for Sri Lanka whereas Dushmantha Chameera ended the innings with 1 wicket.
Sri Lanka win the last-over affair in Colombo against Zimbabwe, Sikandar Raza’s All-Round Heroics In Vain
Chasing down the target, Sri Lanka had to face an early blow as they lost Pathum Nissanka for 2 runs in the first over. Kusal Perera and Kusal Mendis were also not able to do much and were dismissed for 17 runs each. Sikandar Raza showed his form with the ball as well and removed Sadeera Samarawickrama for 9 runs. Sri Lanka had lost their first four wickets for 51 runs in 7.1 overs.
Angelo Mathews and Charith Asalanka tried to recover Sri Lanka from the early damage and added 32 runs for the 5th wicket. However, Asalanka was dismissed by Raza for 16 runs whereas skipper Wanindu Hasaranga was cleaned up by Raza for a duck.
With 14 needed off the last over, Angelo Mathews bit Blessing Muzarabani for 2 fours on two back-to-back balls and got out on the 4th ball. Before getting out, Mathews had added 55 runs for the 7th wicket with Dasun Shanaka. However, Dushmantha Chameera hit six runs from 2 balls and helped Sri Lanka win the match by three wickets.
Experienced duo Mathews and Shanaka take Sri Lanka home as 🇱🇰 BEAT Zimbabwe by 3 wickets!
A fantastic start to the 3-match T20I series with a 1-0 lead!🎉
📝 Full Scorecard: https://t.co/pRnUNNPgkY#SLvZIM pic.twitter.com/pwwKRYIYsY
— Sri Lanka Cricket 🇱🇰 (@OfficialSLC) January 14, 2024
Sikandar Raza was the star with the ball for Zimbabwe as he picked up 3 wickets from 4 overs whereas Blessing Muzarabani picked up 2 wickets. Richard Ngarava and Wellington Masakadza picked up 1 wicket a piece.
Brief Scores:
Zimbabwe 143/5 (Sikandar Raza 62; Wanindu Hasaranga 2/19)
Sri Lanka 144/7 (Angelo Mathews 46: Sikandar Raza 3/13)