(ESPN) Sri Lanka’s ninth-wicket partnership snuck their team home in the Colombo rain, battling off a spirited Zimbabwe bowling and fielding performance led by Richard Ngarava. Defending only 209, Ngarava took early wickets, and finished with 5 for 32 from his 10 overs, as the likes of Sikandar Raza and Blessing Muzarabani produced menacing spells of their own.
And together they had repeatedly had Sri Lanka on the ropes in their chase, particularly when No. 9 Dushmantha Chameera and No. 10 Jeffrey Vandersay came together with Sri Lanka needing 37 to win off 45 balls. But the pair batted sensibly. Ngarava had already been bowled out at this stage, and Muzarabani was the last remaining threat – Craig Ervine having used his most-threatening bowlers up early in his quest for wickets.
Together Chameera and Vandersay whittled down the requirement, before in the penultimate over, Vandersay scooped Faraz Akram over his shoulder, and then drove him through the covers for four next ball, in what were the final dramatic moments in a match that had swung in either direction repeatedly.
That these last blows came in the rain, which had earlier caused a significant delay, only added to the theatre. That this partnership had been forged after the departure of Janith Liyanage, who hit 95 off 127 balls, thus providing the most substance to this innings, made the finish even more riveting.
Of all the regrets Zimbabwe will have from this match, however, none will be greater than their collapse from the 37th over onwards. Having been 182 for 4, and headed towards a score of around 250, they lost their last six wickets for 26 runs. Captain Ervine, who had made 82 off 102, was the first to depart in that sequence, having been caught athletically by Sadeera Samarawickrama at backward point.
It was Liyanage’s innings that ended up defining the match however, and he who was most responsible for pushing the game deep as the other batters fell around him. (The next-highest score on the Sri Lankan card was 21.) Although he too struggled against Ngarava’s new-ball bowling, he was patient until the hittable balls came, crashing Ngarava to the cover boundary to start the seventh over, before pulling him neatly behind square several balls later, when Ngarava bowled short.
