What a conclusion to Mirpur's 100th ODI. An absolute thriller. Both teams fought until the end and Zimbabwe's persistent belief helped them come out on top. If you're just tuning in and would like to know what happened, Mohammad Isam's report should be up on the site soon. From here, this is all we have. Thanks for joining us.
Time for presentations.
"We were scrappy from the outset, gave away too many runs in the first 10 overs," says Angelo Mathews. "They had the wickets in the last 10 overs to capitalise on it. The wicket settled a little bit after the dew came in, but we also had wickets in hand. The run rate was pretty good, but we just kept losing wickets. Thisara was fantastic with bat and ball and Kusal batted brilliantly. Unfortunately the others couldn't convert that. Lots of positives. We can certainly improve and come back harder next time."
"We could not have hoped for anything better with the bat," says Graeme Cremer. "Sikandar came good with bat and ball.Shows the character of the team to bounce back after the beating in the last game. At one point, we thought 260 would be a par score. We know the quality Sri Lanka have in their batting so credit to our bowlers as well. We now play Sri Lanka again in the next game. It will be interesting to see how Sri Lanka v Bangladesh goes."
Sikandar Raza is Man of the Match. "I did plenty wrong," he says. "The way I started with the ball was exactly what the team didn't want. But the way we bounced back showed our character. I think Solo did exactly what we asked for. We trust Solo with decision-making and he's one of the best hitters of the ball. The partnership with Brendan, and in the end with PJ Moor came in handy. We showed a lot of character. We always knew one wicket would bring another. We always wanted that wicket of Thisara and we did get that."
7.00pm What a game we've had here in Mirpur. These are conditions that Sri Lanka will feel at home in. But Zimbabwe have played most of their cricket in similar slow, low pitches in Harare and Bulawayo, so under-estimate them at your peril.
By no means were Sri Lanka complacent, but Zimbabwe were just a tad better in the clutch moments of the game. Defending 290, Sri Lanka were in the game for the majority, down the moment the ball lobbed to point off Chameera. Sri Lanka have not had a great 12 months, and it has gotten worse in January. But they'll be back. Thisara Perera played a fine hand, and so did Kusal Perera. But Sri Lanka just lost too many wickets in that middle period, and it cost them eventually. Zimbabwe were disciplined through that period, and even though they lost their lines slightly towards the end, they held their nerve.
PVD Chameera c sub (B Mavuta) b Chatara 1 (4b 0x4 0x6) SR: 25.00
13 off 12. Pace.
END OF OVER:48 | 2 Runs | SL: 278/9 (13 runs required from 12 balls, RR: 5.79, RRR: 6.50)
- Dushmantha Chameera1 (3b)
- Suranga Lakmal5 (9b)
- Graeme Cremer10-0-62-2
- Tendai Chatara8-0-33-3
A slip in place.
14 off 14. Cremer takes his time.
15 off 18. Zimbabwe one ball away, Sri Lanka three boundaries away. A thriller.
END OF OVER:47 | 9 Runs 1 Wkt | SL: 276/9 (15 runs required from 18 balls, RR: 5.87, RRR: 5.00)
- Dushmantha Chameera0 (1b)
- Suranga Lakmal4 (5b)
- Tendai Chatara8-0-33-3
- Kyle Jarvis8-0-56-2
Chameera.
16 off 20. One wicket in hand. Lakmal has the strike.
NLTC Perera c Sikandar Raza b Chatara 64 (37b 5x4 3x6) SR: 172.97
24 off 24. Big over coming up.
END OF OVER:46 | 6 Runs | SL: 267/8 (24 runs required from 24 balls, RR: 5.80, RRR: 6.00)
- Suranga Lakmal2 (3b)
- Thisara Perera57 (34b)
- Kyle Jarvis8-0-56-2
- Tendai Chatara7-0-24-2
Thisara's wicket changes things. If he stays for three overs, this game should be done.
Lakmal now. Thisara will have to score most of the remaining runs. Jarvis is back, he'll look to attack the stumps, open lbw and bowled.
END OF OVER:45 | 6 Runs 1 Wkt | SL: 261/8 (30 runs required from 30 balls, RR: 5.80, RRR: 6.00)
- Thisara Perera53 (31b)
- Tendai Chatara7-0-24-2
- Blessing Muzarabani9-0-47-1
A Dananjaya c Cremer b Chatara 8 (19b 0x4 0x6) SR: 42.10
Arsalan: "If Hasaranga is only required to bowl 3 overs in a match, can someone please explain why he is included ahead of Gunathilaka, who is a much more capable batsman and can easily bowl 5-6 overs in a match. Also Chandi was very unlike his usual slow self, but I still fail to understand how he features ahead of an inform Dickwella."