ZIM vs SL, Review | Kamindu Mendis rescues Lankan Lions with blistering finish in first T20I
Sri Lanka beat Zimbabwe by four wickets in the first T20I at the Harare Sports Club on Wednesday. Brian Bennett and Richard Ngarava gave the hosts a chance of an upset until Kamindu Mendis spoiled the fun with a fiery knock to help the Lankans take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.
Sri Lanka won the toss and chose to field, and it was an evenly matched power play where the Lankans managed to get two big breakthroughs of Tadiwanashe Marumani and Sean Williams, but Brian Bennett kept attacking at the other end to finish the first six overs on a score of 59/2. The Lankan bowlers started feeling the pressure once Sikandar Raza began to find his feet as well, putting Zimbabwe in a commanding position of 88/2 after 10 overs. Raza and Bennett had put on 50 runs for the third wicket before the Zimbabwe legend was finally dismissed in the 13th over by Dushan Hemantha. Despite the minor hiccup, Bennett continued to carry the innings forward along with Ryan Burl, with the opener well-set by now and Burl starting to play some aggressive strokes in the middle. A 180-plus total seeemed to be on the cards until Dushmantha Chameera struck twice in the 19th over, marking an end to a terrific innings of 81 off 57 balls by the Chevrons opener. Nevertheless, Tashinga Musekiwa struck consecutive boundaries in the final over to ensure the hosts took 46 runs from the last five despite four wickets falling in the period, as Zimbabwe finished the innings on a score of 175/7.
The visitors carried forward the slight momentum shift at the end of the first innings into their batting with Pathum Nissanka taking the attack to the bowlers and Kusal Mendis controlling the strike at the other end. This put the island nation in a strong position at the end of the power play, with the score reading 65/0. Both openers continued the run-flow after the field restrictions were removed too and were very much in control of the game at the halfway stage, with 80 runs required for victory. However, Nissanka's dismissal in the 11th over after a valiant knock of 51 off 32 deliveries by Tinotenda Maposa turned the tides and triggered a mini collapse. Richard Ngarava struck twice in the 13th over with the wickets of Kusal Mendis and Kusal Perera, before Raza got the prized wicket of the Lankan skipper Charitha Asalanka in the 14th. With only 22 runs in the last five overs with a flurry of wickets, the Lions were suddenly in a spot of bother at 118/4 after 15 overs. Kamindu Mendis threatened to spoil the party with a couple of big blows but the hosts struck back with two more wickets of their own and with 34 runs to get in 18 balls, the game still hung in the balance. It took two balls to change all that as Mendis welcomed Tinotenda Maposa into his final over with an audacious scoop for four, before dispatching a beamer beyond the boundary to bring the equation down to 21 off 16. A boundary and six more followed as the over ended up going for 26, practically confirming the result. Hemantha sealed the deal with a four on the first ball of the final over but the man of the match honours went to Mendis who ended unbeaten on 41 off just 16 deliveries to take Sri Lanka 1-0 up in the T20I series.
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