Sri Lanka won by four wickets in the first T20I against Zimbabwe.
The preparations for the Asia Cup 2025 are in full swing. Teams are highly invested in getting their combinations right ahead of the coveted tournament which will begin on September 9. The tournament is set to be played in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), with eight teams locking horns for the ultimate glory. While the Indians are set to travel to the UAE in batches on September 4, teams like Pakistan, hosts UAE and Afghanistan are already engaged in a tri-series. The first T20I in the ZIM vs SL series was played today (September 3).
On the road to be fully prepared for the tournament, the Sri Lankans are sweating it out against Zimbabwe in a T20I series away from home. While their record in the shortest format recently has not been so promising, they will hope to take inspiration from their Asia Cup campaign in 2022. The Lankan Lions went all the way in 2022, and are the defending champions of the T20 Asia Cup.
The Sri Lankans have lost three out of the last four T20I series which they have played. While they managed to win against the West Indies, their outings against India, New Zealand and Bangladesh did not go as planned. As for their counterparts, they were involved in the tri-series against South Africa and New Zealand. However, they ended up losing all the four matches in the series, which ended on a glum for them.
Here are the highlights for the first T20I between Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka, which was played in Harare.
After the Sri Lankans put the Zimbabweans in to bat, the latter lost two wickets for 59 runs in the powerplay. They lost opener Tadiwanashe Marumani and Sean Williams in the powerplay. From there, the innings could have gone anywhere. But Brian Bennett stood firm, and propelled his team’s score to a fighting 175/7.
As for the Sri Lankans, Dushmantha Chameera scalped three wickets and was lethal during most of the time in the innings. But Bennett was the only batter who crossed the 30-run mark. None of the other batters were able to get going, despite some of them getting starts.
The 21-year-old paced his innings to perfection. If he continues the same way, Bennett has surely got a bright future for Zimbabwe. The thing which stood out for the youngster was the way he managed between attack and defence. He accelerated in moments where he had to, and scored a valiant 81 from 57 deliveries.
The Zimbabwe bowlers were taken to the cleaners in no time. Chasing a par total of 176, the Lankan Lions got off to a rampaging start. Both Kusal Mendis and Pathum Nissanka raced off, and Sri Lanka were 65/0 in the powerplay. Attacking the bowlers in the powerplay is becoming a regular occurrence in the shortest format. A lot of teams have started relying on brute power in the first six overs.
The duo added 96 runs for the first wicket in just 10 overs, which came at a run-rate of almost 10. This was before Pathum Nissanka was dismissed by Tinotenda Maposa on the first delivery of the 11th over. Despite their blazing start, the Lankans lost three wickets inside the next 10 runs, as Zimbabwe came back into the game.
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The reason why we love the game is because it keeps us on the edge of our seats. After the start which the Sri Lankans got, an easy win was on the cards. But they threw it away from that point, and lost wickets in a heap. As a result, the Zimbabwe bowlers were on top of the batting with Richard Ngarava leading the attack.
After losing the first wicket for 96, the visitors were reduced to 125/5 in no time. And this is where the match cracked open. Sikandar Raza stood up to the occasion to send skipper Charith Asalanka back into the dugout and Sri Lanka were pushed to the wall after falling like a pack of cards.
However, one player stood tall in adversity, both with bat and ball. Though he was not able to pick a wicket in the first innings, he just Kamindu Mendis conceded only 15 runs in his two overs. But for all those who thought that he was done for the game, the best was yet to come.
As the Zimbabweans pushed the visitors to their limits, Mendis stood tall. He played a brilliant cameo of an unbeaten 41, which took just 16 deliveries. As a result, Sri Lanka huffed and puffed over the line by a matter of fine margins.
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