Zimbabwe vs Sri Lanka, Tri Series Final – 5 Talking Points

Sri Lanka won the tri-series final against Zimbabwe clinching the final by 6 wickets and 13 overs to spare. It was a thoroughly professional performance by the Lankan boys as they beat the hosts quite comprehensively in the end to lift the Blue Mountain Achilleion Cup.

Sri Lanka has been the best side in the tournament by far and barring the 1st ODI against West Indies where they suffered a huge defeat, they have been the far superior side. Zimbabwe who scraped passed West Indies by a solitary point in the group stage kept losing wickets at regular intervals after winning the toss and batting first. The touring bowlers never allowed the Zimbabweans to settle as they were skittled out for 160 in 36.3 overs.

Half-centuries from Kusal Mendis and Upul Tharanga ensured Sri Lanka recovered from the early hiccups and chased down the target with relative ease after Brian Vitori wrecked the Lankan top order with his superb opening spell.

Here we look at 5 talking points from the final of the Tri-Nation series

1. Jeffrey Vandersay’s impressive spell

The right arm leg spinner who was the last to come into the attack bowled an impressive spell and bagged 3 wickets in his allotted 10 overs giving away 50 runs. The youngster was tossing up the ball on a consistent basis which tempted the hosts to go for big shots.

He was introduced in the 16th over of the innings and made an immediate impact by removing Craig Ervine and followed it up with Tarisai Musakanda’s wicket soon after. The young leg-spinner wrecked the middle order which helped the visitors to keep Zimbabwe under a manageable total.

Vandersay got yet another wicket in his last spell when he dismissed the Zimbabwean captain Graeme Cremer caught at the deep by Kusal Mendis.  The talented leg spinner who played a vital role in Lanka’s series victory might well turn out be a trump card for Sri Lanka in the future.

2. Asela Gunaratne’s dream spell

Batting all-rounder Asela Gunaratne bowled a superb spell during the dying stages of the Zimbabwean innings and finished with astonishing figures of 3/10 in 4.3 overs.

Gunaratne who is primarily a batsman took the last three wickets of the Zimbabwean innings to bring down the curtains on their innings. He was introduced into the attack during the later stages of the innings and polished off the tail with disdain.

First, he dismissed the hard-hitting Sean Williams in the 35th over and polished off the tail with Tendai Chisoro and Brian Vitori’ wicket in the very next over.

3. Brian Vitori’s terrific opening spell

After a lacklustre performance in the batting department, the hosts made a terrific comeback to reduce the visitors to 42/3 in 6 overs. It was a brilliant spell from Vitori that shook the Lankan top order.

The attacking left-arm medium pacer bowled in the perfect areas and allowed the ball to do all the talking. He was pretty good with his outswingers, occasionally bowling the in-swinger to surprise the batsman.

The talented fast bowler dismissed Dhananjaya de Silva in the first legal delivery of the innings striking him plump in front of the stumps. It was followed by hard hitter Kusal Perera’s wicket who was dismissed by Vitori caught of Waller.

Vitori added one more to his kitty before the end of the powerplay by uprooting stumps of Niroshan Dickwella at the score of 16. It was a brilliant delivery which pitched and came back sharply to take the middle stump. It was a terrific effort by the youngster but his spell was not enough to ensure a win for the hosts.

4. Kusal Mendis continues his dream run

Kusal Mendis is one of those very few players in the world at the moment who has a very promising career ahead of them. After impressive performances in the Test format, he has played exceptionally well even in the limited overs format bagging both Man of the Match and Man of the Series awards.

Mendis came into the crease with Sri Lanka struggling at 29/2 and lost his partner Kusal Perera in quick succession. Upul Tharanga joined him in the middle and the duo kept ticking along the scoreboard. Mendis was finding the gaps on a regular basis to keep up the momentum for the visitors.

The talented right-hander struck 10 fours in his innings of 57 and shared a very crucial stand with Tharanga to bail Sri Lanka out of the precarious situation. Mendis was eventually dismissed by Graeme Cremer caught of Sean Williams after taking Sri Lanka to a position of strength.

5. Captain Upul Tharanga’s match winning half century

Tharanga joined Kusal Mendis after the fall of Perera’s wicket and the duo batted sensibly to share a 75 run partnership. Even though the veteran batsman was quite sedated in his approach, he made sure he was there till the end to ensure Sri Lanka won the match.

Tharanga who had scored many ODI hundreds opening the batting played a perfect foil to Mendis. He supported the youngster, who was the aggressor of the two and played to his own strength. Even after Mendis’ dismissal, Tharanga was there until the end to ensure Sri Lanka were the Champions of the Tri-Nation series. Tharanga finished with a 98 ball 57, an innings constructed with 7 fours and a solitary six.