Harsha Bhogle showers praise on Zimbabwe, surprised by Sri Lanka’s recent results

Renowned cricket analyst and commentator Harsha Bhogle hailed Zimbabwe for their first series win in Sri Lanka. The Zimbabweans had never won a single ODI against Sri Lanka in Sri Lanka. Touring the country after a gap of 6 years, the African nation went on to win the tightly competed series by 3-2.

The series was drawn at 2-2 before the final ODI at Hambantota. The visitors put Sri Lanka into bat first and stunned the home side by peppering them up with some spin bowling early on. The top order didn’t contribute much and courtesy valuable knocks from Gunathilaka and Gunaratne, Sri Lanka could muster to 203 for 8 after 50 overs. The Zimbabweans overhauled the total with 71 balls to spare and 3 wickets in hand. Harsha acknowledged the value of beating the Sri Lankans at home through micro-blogging site Twitter.

Sri Lanka’s loss has shocked a lot of people. After the retirements of Mahela Jayawardene, Tillakaratne Dilshan and Kumar Sangakkara, the Sri Lankans have struggled to put consistent performances at the international level. While they have surprised on a few occasions, the latest one being their win against India in the ICC Champions Trophy, they have largely underperformed to the standards they have set in the last two decades.

Harsha himself was very puzzled at the recent form of the Islanders. He said that Sri Lanka has always been a nation which has produced brilliant yet modest cricketers and hence the recent results are a bit baffling.

It is a moment to rejoice for Zimbabwean cricket. It was Sikandar Raza, who through his all-round performance helped Zimbabwe to get home in the final ODI. A few unheralded names, like the one of Solomon Mire, have emerged during the course of the 5-match series. Experience players – Masakadza, Creamer, Sikandar Raza and Sean Williams – have made valuable contributions during the entire series.