Zimbabwe outplayed us in all three departments: Angelo Mathews

Sri Lanka’s fortunes in the International arena are only getting worse while Zimbabwe have created history at the cost of Sri Lanka’s downfall as a team. Coach Heath Streak and captain of Zimbabwe, Graeme Cremer, emphasised earlier that they wanted chances to play against top notches and they have delivered what they promised and rarely get the opportunity to Test themselves against higher-ranked opponents.

Winning the see-saw ODI series 3-2 is the momentum that the ‘underdogs’ needed and in all likelihood, will boost their campaigns in the future too. It was a chase to remember for Zimbabwe, the ones that will be remembered for a long time and Sikandar Raza in particular for his allround show who thus won the Man of the Match award.

After early heroics displayed by Solomon Mire and Hamilton Masakadza who were roaring their way to a convincing victory today, a collapse was on the way. Though the nerves took over mid-way, Sri Lanka only sensed the opportunity but fell short while executing their plans.

137/1 quickly became 175/7, a golden opportunity was being spurned, but Zimbabwe’s man of the day was still in the middle. Raza took matters into his own hands, played the brave shots and ensured they would remember this 3-2 series win a remarkable incident in their cricket. And the opportunity only slipped out of Sri Lanka’s hands.

It was a happy day for Zimbabwe as their dressing room erupted in joy, making it their first series win outside the home since 2009 and their first against a major team since 2001.

In the post-match presentation, Angelo Mathews, captain of the Sri Lankan team was quick to praise the winners and pointed out what went wrong for them.

“We were outplayed in all three departments. Credit to Zimbabwe, they gave us a tough time. It was a difficult track to bat on, but 203 was way below standards. Our bowlers bowled very well, Malinga was good, Dananjaya came good. The openers have taken responsibility, but the rest didn’t support them enough,” said Mathews.