Sikandar Raza yesterday starred with bat and ball to help Zimbabwe edge Sri Lanka by three wickets and clinch a historic series victory in the fifth one-day international.
Taking the series 3-2 in Hambantota, 11th-ranked Zimbabwe registered their maiden series win in Sri Lanka and first overseas triumph in eight years.
Off-spinner Raza claimed three wickets to restrict the hosts to 203-8 after Zimbabwe elected to field first. He then anchored a tense chase with an unbeaten 27 as the visitors won with 71 balls to spare.
Photo: AFP
Zimbabwe opener Hamilton Masakadza top-scored with a fluent 73, before rookie off-spinner Akila Dananjaya struck back with four wickets to rattle the Zimbabwe middle-order.
The visitors slipped from 137-1 to 175-7, but Raza and skipper Graeme Cremer (11 not out) hung on for a 29-run stand as the perennial underdogs erupted in celebrations.
“Happy that Sikandar came to the party. It turned around very quickly, but happy we pulled it off in the end,” Cremer said. “This win is very special, fans must be jumping around back home. We knew we’re playing good enough cricket to put them under pressure. Raza is a definite weapon with the new ball. I was hoping for a breakthrough or two and he gave us that in the powerplay.”
Sri Lanka skipper Angelo Mathews said even though the conditions were “tough” for batting, their final run tally was far below what was expected.
“Credit to Zimbabwe, they gave us a really tough time and we didn’t have any answers,” Mathews said.
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