Sri Lanka slump to their second-lowest T20I total as Zimbabwe romp to series-levelling win
Raza, Muzarabani and Evans shared eight wickets among them to never give the visitors a sniff
Raza, Muzarabani and Evans shared eight wickets among them to never give the visitors a sniff
Commentator: Fidel Fernando
That's all from us folks. We'll have the report for you in a bit. Madushka Balasuriya will have tomorrow's decider for you. Till then, take it easy.
Sikandar Raza is player of the match: The good thing about playing good cricket is that cricket rewards you back. We have been playing good cricket. We were a bit upset with the losses because we got close in the previous three games. But we weren't panicking. Hopefully this win will give us belief. The good thing is this environment is that we believe in the players' abilities. Anyone can have a bad day [as Blessing did in the previous game] but he came back today. We've got to be even better tomorrow. We deserve to win a series because we've been playing quality cricket.
Charith Asalanka: "We lost too many wickets in the powerplay. That's not the start we wanted. When I went to bat I thought it was a 130-140 pitch. In this format 80 is not enough."
Zimbabwe's batting was nothing to write home about, especially as Chameera went on the hunt. But they did enough. Sri Lanka never quite got to the stage where they were favourites to defend their exceedingly low score.
Dr Brix is getting emotional, and fair enough: "This win is a triumph of grit and patienceproof that 'slow and steady wins the race.' For Zimbabwe and its people, it's a moment of pride and joy, showing that 'every cloud has a silver lining."
This is Zimbabwe's first win over a full member side this year. Sri Lanka fielded and inexperienced top order, and ended up suffering one of their worst T20I collapses ever to register their second-lowest total ever. Sikandar Raza was the best of Zimabbwe's bowlers, but Brad Evans and Blessing Muzarabani were also excellent, with Ngarava and Sean Williams also playing their part.
DanielAlexander: "Sri Lanka will be pleased with their bowling going into the Asia Cup, especially with Wanindu returning. However, the batting is a concern, only the openers are scoring."
Raza, Muzarabani and Evans shared eight wickets among them to never give the visitors a sniff