'So close yet so far!'- Sikandar Raza after Zimbabwe's narrow defeat in 3rd ODI against India

Zimbabwe’s ace all-rounder Sikandar Raza has come forward and heaped praise on a complete team effort despite falling agonizingly short against India in the third ODI at the Harare Sports Club on Monday, August 22. Raza almost gave India a scare with a splendid century before emerging pacer Avesh Khan staged a remarkable comeback to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat for the Men in Blue.

Taking to his official Twitter handle, Sikandar Raza posted a few images of him waving his bat after breaching three figures and captioned it as, “So close yet so far! It really hurts when you get this close and not cross the line. Great to have @BCCIboys in #Zimbabwe but now time to head to #Australia Thank you all for your kind wishes and prayers, they are always needed and I am forever grateful”.

So close yet so far! It really hurts when you get this close and not cross the line.
Great to have @BCCI boys in #Zimbabwe but now time to head to #Australia

Thank you all for your kind wishes and prayers, they are always needed and I am forever grateful #Alhamdulillah pic.twitter.com/cQYdkzF9bM

— Sikandar Raza (@SRazaB24) August 23, 2022

Zimbabwe falter from a commanding position

Batting first in the dead rubber, stand-in captain KL Rahul and Shikhar Dhawan added 63 runs for the opening stand before the former was dismissed. Dhawan followed soon after, scoring 40 runs. The young duo of Shubman Gill and Ishan Kishan then steadied the Indian ship with a 140-run stand for the third wicket. Ishan was run out for 50 while Gill carried on and went on register his maiden ODI century. The emerging batter scored a quickfire 130 runs off 97 deliveries as India posted 289/8 on the board.

In reply, the Zimbabwean batters lost two early wickets before Sean Williams (45) staged a fightback. Nonetheless, it was when Sikandar Raza found his rhythm with the bat that made the Indian bowlers toil hard. Raza took the bowlers to the cleaners and, more importantly, played the spinners with a smart approach.

Raza was rewarded for his aggressive batting approach as he completed his century and at one point in time, it appeared as if he would single-handedly take the hosts over the line. Nonetheless, once he was dismissed for a 95-ball 115 by Shardul Thakur in the penultimate over, it was curtains down for Zimbabwe as they were bowled out for 276 and lost by 13 runs.