Zimbabwe senior men’s cricket team put up a disappointing performance in the third and final T20I tie of the three-match series after going down to Sri Lanka by nine wickets in Colombo yesterday.
After soaring to a four-wicket win in the second T20I to level the series one-all on Tuesday, a lot was expected from the Zimbabwe team in the deciding encounter, but switched off after being asked to bat first.
The visitors were bowled out for a measly 82 runs all out inside 14.1 overs.Top order batsman Brian Bennett played magnificent shots as he top-scored with 29 runs from 12 balls.
All-rounder Sean Williams scored 15, opener Tinashe Kamunhukamwe had 12, while captain Sikandar Raza managed 10 runs in a difficult batting innings for Zimbabwe. Sri Lanka captain Wanindu Hasaranga once again was the tormentor-in-chief, with the leg-spinner taking four wickets for 15 runs from his alloted four overs.
Angelo Mathews, who was hit massacred in the last over of Zimbabwe’s historic four-wicket win on Tuesday, took two wickets, while Dilshan Madushanka and Dhananjaya de Silva claimed a wicket each.
Sri Lanka easily chased down Zimbabwe’s total in 10.5 overs, reaching 88 for the loss of one wicket, Kusal Mendis, who was bowled out by Sean Williams for 33 runs. Pathum Nissanka and Da Silva were unbeaten on 39 and 15 runs, respectively, as Sri Lanka won the match and the series 2-1.
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Zimbabwe head back home after losing both the one-day international series 2-0 and the T20I series 2-1.Raza said losing wickets in a cluster did not help matters for the team.
“52 after six overs and the to be 82 all out, there’s no explanation. The only explanation I have is that we take full responsibility as the players. We’re trying our best, but unfortunately, when we need courage more than skills, that’s not there. And that cannot be coached or taught, and unfortunately that’s one of the reasons today (yesterday),” he said.
“There’s been a lot of good and bad. We’ve been either really good or really poor, nothing in between, not finding a consistent way of playing at the moment. We’re having a lot of positive chats, but I’m very big on how we train. A lot of the work is done behind closed doors. Unfortunately, we’re not training as professionally as we could be, including myself. We’re not reading the game well and understanding the situation, and playing accordingly.
“We’re not trusting our skills. Today is one of those days where Craig, Sean and I had to play a lot of the overs and we couldn’t. That had a ripple effect. The biggest one has been the seamers and how well they have bowled on a tough tour.”