He got to his half-century in 57 balls.
Zimbabwe batting all-rounder Sikandar Raza played a valiant knock of 92 runs in the first ODI against Sri Lanka in Harare on Friday. His efforts, however, went in vain as the hosts went down to the Lankans by seven runs.
Zimbabwe had won the toss and elected to field first. The former Punjab Kings (PBKS) player bowled all of his allotted 10 overs, and finished with figures of 1/48, taking the wicket of Sadeera Samarawickrama.
Sri Lanka posted 298/6 on the board on the back of fifties from Pathum Nissanka (76), Janith Linayage (70) and Kamindu Mendis (57), but the hosts were in a spot of bother at one stage during their run-chase.
Zimbabwe lost Brian Bennett and Brendan Taylor both for ducks, and were 118/3 in the 23rd over following the wicket of Sean Williams (57). This is when Raza came out to bat at No.5.
After losing Ben Curran and Wessley Madhevere in a space of four overs, Raza had his task cut out. He forged a 128-run partnership with Tony Munyonga (43) for the sixth wicket, which took the hosts closer to the total.
It was a calm and composed knock from Raza, who hit just eight fours. However, he kept rotating the strike at regular intervals, and made sure that the scoreboard kept ticking.
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Raza got to his half-century in 57 balls, hitting three fours in the process. It was only after getting to his half-century that Raza started collecting even more boundaries, but despite his confident approach, the 39-year-old missed out on a century.
Dilshan Madushanka eventually cleaned up the veteran with a yorker, as the latter’s ploy to play a sweep shot ended up being unsuccessful. Zimbabwe were 289/6 at the start of the 50th over when Raza was dismissed, and were eventually restricted to 291/8 with Madushanka taking a hat-trick.
Sikandar Raza has played in the IPL in the 2023 and 2024 seasons, both for Punjab Kings. He had a pretty decent stint in IPL 2023, taking three wickets and scoring 139 runs from seven matches at a strike-rate of 141.83.
This included one half-century that came against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG). He was acquired by Punjab Kings for the IPL 2024 season as well, for INR 50 lakh, which was his price for the 2023 season too. His game time, however, was limited to just two matches in IPL 2024, wherein he scored 43 runs.
