Wanindu Hasaranga scripted a profitable begin to his captaincy era on Sunday (January 14) as Sri Lanka pipped Zimbabwe by three wickets in the T20I series opener on the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo by three wickets. The toss fell in favour of the Sri Lankan skipper Hasaranga and he had no hesitation in asking the vacationers to place a rating on the board.
The Chevrons obtained off to a sedate begin as they failed to maximise the powerplay to its fullest. Although, all of their top-four batters obtained begins, barring the skipper Sikandar Raza not one of the different three utilised their begins.
Raza performed like a ‘one-man military’ and made the Sri Lankan bowlers toil for his wicket. Raza scored yet one more fifty – his fifth consecutive half-century in the format and have become the first-ever batter to attain 5 consecutive half-centuries in the shortest format of the sport.
He went previous the likes of Brendon McCullum, Chris Gayle, and Reeza Hendricks to realize the elusive feat.
His 62-run knock off 42 balls concerned 5 fours and two maximums and helped the guests publish a combating complete of 143/5 on the board.
Other than Nuwan Thushara and Dushmantha Chmeera, all the opposite Sri Lankan bowlers had been immaculate in phrases of their line and size and ensured the vacationers did not breach the 150-run mark.
In reply, Zimbabwe utilized relentless stress on the Hasaranga-led facet and made early inroads to get an higher hand in the competition.
Sri Lanka misplaced wickets at common intervals and had been reeling at 83/6 on the finish of the 14th over. They wanted 61 to win off the final six overs and simply had 4 wickets in hand.
However, a rescue of the very best order by Angelo Mathews, who was enjoying a T20I sport for the primary time since March 2021, and Dasun Shanaka took the Lankan Lions house ultimately. Mathews scored 46 off 38 balls.
