This day will be remembered in the pages of cricket history. Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe faced each other in the second match of the T20 series at the R. Premadasa International Cricket Stadium in Sri Lanka on Saturday. Zimbabwe won the toss and decided to field.Sri Lanka batted and its opening pair could not survive as a result Pathum Nissanka returned to the pavilion with only one run from 7 balls, the same situation can be seen Kusal Mendis also returned to the pavilion with four runs from five balls.
Then middle order Kusal Perera got out for zero runs in 1 ball, then middle order Sadeera Samarawickrama stayed in the field for a while and then got out for 16 runs in 12 balls. Reading then needed an efficient batsman to take Sri Lanka forward and hold the series.
The entire Sri Lankan team was upset due to the amazing bowling of Zimbabwe and then all rounder Charith Asalanka came in and took control of the game and held the game and with his amazing batting skills Charith Asalanka was dismissed with 69 runs from 39 balls and he was supported by all rounders and skillful players. Angelo Mathews. He was generally not out with 66 off fifty-one balls. Which gave Sri Lanka a nice run which gave the Sri Lankans a little bit of confidence. Besides, Dasun Shanaka scored nine runs off four balls.
Richard Ngarava took one wicket with 30 runs in four overs for ZIM. Blessing Muzarabani, Luke Jongwe both took two wickets and Wellington Masakadza took one wicket. But skipper Sikandar Raza kept the Sri Lankan team in check with his bowling power despite not getting a wicket and not letting them waste any runs.
In total, Sri Lanka lost six wickets in 20 overs and scored 173 runs. ZIM set a target of 174 runs. Everyone thought that Sri Lanka’s bowling might win this match in Sri Lanka.
Then Zimbabwean openers Tinashe Kamunhukamwe and Craig Ervine entered the field with a target of 174 runs. Kamunhukamwe could not stay on the field for long. He scored 12 runs in just thirteen balls and was dismissed by D. Madushanka. But Craig Ervine, on the other hand, continues to do well in his starting role. And B. Bennet partnered with him for a while, he got out with 25 runs in just twenty balls. But then Zimbabwean captain S. Raza came into bat but everyone expected him to bat well but he could not stay at the crease. He went back to get out after eight balls in just five balls.
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Then came the reliable batsman Sean Williams in the middle order but he too was dismissed by M. Theekshana after scoring one run in just three balls. Then this team went into a lot of crisis. One after another the batsman was getting upset. Craig Ervine got out after playing a very nice innings with 70 runs off 54 balls.
The game was very tense. Then Luke Jongwe and C. Madande entered the field for zim and batted with great enthusiasm towards the end and finally gave Zimbabwe the victory with one ball to spare. And brings the series tied at 1-1. In the last minute Luke Jongwe’s 2 wickets and 25 runs from 12 balls won the game and became the man of the match. Besides, Madande scored 15 runs in five balls. This win made every Zimbabwean player very happy and helped them gain more strength.
D. Chameera and M. Theekshana picked up two wickets each for Sri Lanka and Theekshana bowled beautifully. Besides D. Madushanka and W. Hasaranga collected one wicket each. Hasaranga and Mathews scored the most runs in terms of bowling.
It is a big change in the history of cricket world where the big team of Asia beat Sri Lanka in T20I series. Which makes the game of cricket more exciting.
