Tailenders deny Zimbabwe after Ngarava maiden fifer

Richard Ngarava in action for Zimbabwe PIC: @ICC/Twitter

Zimbabwe – 208 all out in 44.4 overs (Craig Ervine 82, Ryan Burl 31, Joylord Gumbie 30; Maheesh Theekshana 4/31, Dushmantha Chameera 2/44, Jeffrey Vandersay 2/47)

Sri Lanka – 211-8 in 49 overs (Janith Liyanage 95, Sahan Arachchige 21, Jeffrey Vandersay 19*; Richard Ngarava 5/32, Sikandar Raza 2/32, Blessing Muzarabani 1/41)

Sri Lanka won by two wickets

Richard Ngarava picked up his maiden five-wicket haul as Zimbabwe put up a bold fight in an attempt to defend a below-par total, but Sri Lanka’s tail-enders held their nerve to help their team to a two-wicket victory, with one over in hand, in a thrilling finish to the second one-day international match in Colombo on Monday.

This time round the tourists won the toss and chose to bat first.

They suffered an early setback when they lost Tinashe Kamunhukamwe, caught by the wicket-keeper down the leg side, to the third ball of the innings, with only a single on the board.

Craig Ervine then came in and survived a slightly shaky start, while Joylord Gumbie played a good positive innings at the other end.

Between them they took the score to 61 before Gumbie was bowled out by the off-spinner Maheesh Theekshana for 30.

Milton Shumba, in next, also proved a good partner for Ervine, and they added 53 together before Shumba popped up a catch to midwicket to depart for 26.

The usually Swiss-watch-reliable Sikandar Raza scored only a single before he slashed a catch to third man off the outside edge of his bat.

Ryan Burl was the next batsman, and he played well in partnership with Ervine as the score mounted.

At 182 for four in the 37th over, Zimbabwe seemed to be ready to launch a full assault on the bowlers to bring them a good score, but at this point the wheels fell off their innings.

Ervine fell to a brilliant diving catch by Sadeera Samarawickrama at backward point for 82, having faced 102 balls and hit a six and nine fours.

Two overs later, Burl was bowled out by a short ball from Dushmantha Chameera that jagged in sharply and rather low, having made 31 off 37 balls.

Clive Madande and Faraz Akram came together and took the score past 200, but then both were out to leg before wicket (lbw) decisions in successive deliveries, having scored 14 and one respectively.

Two balls later, Blessing Muzarabani was run out due to a mix-up to make it three wickets down in four deliveries – 202 for nine.

The last pair of Richard Ngarava and Tapiwa Mufudza managed to add six runs in the next two overs before Theekshana bowled out the latter and Zimbabwe were dismissed for 208 in 44.4 overs.

The last four wickets had fallen for six runs and the last six wickets for 26 runs.

Theekshana finished as the best Sri Lankan bowler with four wickets for 31 runs.

Zimbabwe had the encouragement of an early strike when Sri Lanka batted, as Avishka Fernando hit Ngarava for four, but was caught at the wicket off the fifth ball of this the first over.

Ngarava did the trick again in his next over, as Samarawickrama (4) hit out rather recklessly and was caught by Ervine in the slips – 16 for two.

These setbacks forced the Sri Lankans to cool down and play a more secure game for a while.

Gradually, Kusal Mendis and Janith Liyanage began to build the innings, but after 13 overs it started raining and the players had to leave the field.

The score at this point was 49 for two, with Mendis on 16 and Liyanage 22.

The break lasted nearly an hour, but no overs were lost from the original 50.

The rain proved to be Zimbabwe’s friend, as soon after the resumption Ngarava struck again, twice.

First, Mendis cut a ball uppishly to be caught by Burl for 17, and then the century-maker of the first match, Charith Asalanka, also hit similarly, fatally, to be caught by Gumbie at the wicket without scoring.

With their opponents now 53 for four wickets after 16 overs, and with two inexperienced batters in Liyanage and Sahan Arachchige at the crease, Zimbabwe were right back in the game.

The bad news was that Ngarava had only three overs left to bowl, and Ervine decided to keep those in reserve for later.

The two Sri Lankan batters fought hard and took the score to 90, when Arachchige was trapped lbw by Raza for 21 in the 27th over.

Liyanage was now Sri Lanka’s main hope, and he moved past his fifty and the total past 100.

Dasun Shanaka made seven before he was well caught at the wicket by Gumbie off Raza – 112 for six in the 31st over.

Then a troublesome partnership developed between Liyanage and Theekshana, who settled in together and took 23 off two overs from Burl, taking the score to 150.

As the partnership developed Ervine brought back Ngarava, and he did the trick in his final over, having Theekshana caught in the covers for 18 to make the score 168 for seven in the 42nd over.

Ngarava could no longer bowl, but he could catch, and this he did as Liyanage finally made a damning error, lofting a drive off Muzarabani into Ngarava’s safe hands at mid-off.

Liyanage’s fine innings thus ended for 95 – he faced 127 balls and hit two sixes and six fours, with the score now 172 for eight in the 43rd over.

Zimbabwe now needed only to remove the two tail-enders to complete their victory.

However, Dushmantha Chameera and Jeffrey Vandersay kept their heads, knuckled down and began to collect runs steadily.

After 47 overs they had taken the score to 195 for eight, with 14 runs needed from the last three overs and rain starting to fall.

Three runs, including a no-ball, came off Muzarabani’s final over, leaving Sri Lanka needing 11 off two.

Akram bowled the 49th over, and it was all over for Zimbabwe.

Vandersay hit two fours and a single, and Chameera hit the final delivery for the winning four.

It had been a gallant fight by Chameera and Vandersay, who finished not out with 18 and 19 respectively.

Ngarava’s fine bowling brought him five wickets for 32 runs, while Raza also did a good job with two for 32.

Sri Lanka now lead the three-match series by one victory to nil, after the first ODI was washed out on Saturday.