1st ODI
Sri Lanka 316/5 (50.0 ov)
Zimbabwe 322/4 (47.4 ov)
Zimbabwe won by 6 wickets (with 14 balls remaining)
A belligerent 112 from Solomon Mire set Zimbabwe on track, Sean Williams' 65 provided stability, and Sikandar Raza's sparkling 67 not out laid out the finishing touches as a fearless Zimbabwe ran down Sri Lanka's score of 316 to make history in Galle.
Not only was this Zimbabwe's first ODI victory against Sri Lanka on the island, it was also the first time any team successfully pursued a score in excess of 300. In the end, the chase seemed virtually nerveless. Raza and Malcolm Waller accelerated through the final overs to reach the target with the only six of the innings, with 14 balls to spare and six wickets in hand.
Nothing Sri Lanka tried in the back half of the innings worked. Angelo Mathews tried switching his bowlers haphazardly, bringing his wicket-takers back early, and bowled seven men in the innings, but none could shake Zimbabwe's resolve.
As ever, dropped catches will haunt Sri Lanka. Mire was dropped on 17 and 94 - the first of those a difficult opportunity to the wicketkeeper, but the second a straightforward chance to Lasith Malinga, who made a mess of an overhead catch from short fine leg. Williams was also dropped on 13 by Danushka Gunathilaka at point. Had that chance been taken, Williams and Mire would only have had 37 together. Instead, their third-wicket stand of 161 off 133 balls would form the spine of Zimbabwe's rousing victory.
Perhaps you could argue that Sri Lanka should have scored more than 78 in the last 10 overs, given the number of wickets they had in hand, but that is a minor quibble. With Kusal Mendis hitting 86, Gunathilaka joining him for a century stand, and Upul Tharanga making 79 not out, the batsmen largely did their part.
Zimbabwe's innings began inauspiciously, Hamilton Masakadza gloving a legside Malinga ball to the wicketkeeper, before Craig Ervine top-edged a sweep off Akila Dananjaya to deep square leg just after the first Powerplay had finished. With the score at 46 for 2 in the 11th over, 317 looked distant indeed. But in that same over, Mire hit successive boundaries, and followed those up with a reverse sweep for four soon after.
Suddenly, batting began to appear much easier. Mire and Williams rotated the strike fluently, and Sri Lanka's two inexperienced spinners were perhaps guilty of a little indiscipline - Aponso particularly expensive through those early overs. Dananjaya at least seemed to draw regular mistakes from the batsmen, and perhaps could have been used more intensively when Sri Lanka were searching for wickets. By the time he was brought back, the match had largely slipped.
2nd ODI
Zimbabwe 155 (33.4 ov)
Sri Lanka 158/3 (30.1 ov)
Sri Lanka won by 7 wickets (with 119 balls remaining)
Two days after Sri Lanka's slow bowlers were crashed around at Galle, two fresh spinners trussed up Zimbabwe's middle order, before Sri Lanka's batsmen completed a largely unflustered chase of 156. The heft of this seven-wicket victory - achieved with 19.5 overs remaining in the innings - will put some confidence back to into the Sri Lanka side, following their shock defeat on Friday.
Nineteen-year-old legspinner Wanidu Hasaranga made the most dramatic contribution, becoming the third debutant in ODI history to claim a hat-trick, when he wiped out Zimbabwe's tail with the 14th, 15th and 16th deliveries of his international career. But by that stage, Sri Lanka were already in command, thanks largely to Lakshan Sandakan, who was sidelined for long periods by the selectors but was deadly upon his return here.
Zimbabwe's batsmen tried to sweep him hard, and often, as they had done to Amila Aponso and Akila Dananjaya in the last match, but Sandakan, wise to this plan, switched up his lines when he saw a premeditated shot coming. And in any case, he enacted so many revolutions on the ball that his dip and bounce prompted fatal mistakes. He had Craig Ervine caught behind, before Sikandar Raza top-edged a reverse sweep, and Ryan Burl was bowled attempting one. Peter Moor then edged the ball back onto his stumps, and Sandakan claimed a final analysis of 4 for 52. To Angelo Mathews' credit, he allowed Sandakan to bowl out early in the game despite a shaky economy rate. All ten of his overs were delivered between the 10th and 31st of the innings.
Hasaranga, meanwhile, was required to deliver only 2.4 overs, but was nerveless in that spell, persisting with an aggressive length even when batsmen had hit boundaries off him. In fact, his hat-trick came immediately after Malcolm Waller crunched him down the ground for four. Waller was bowled off the inside edge by an arm ball, before Donald Tiripano and Tendai Chatara were both dismissed by googlies. Like the men who had come to crowd the bat, the packed banks of his home ground also went into a frenzy at the hat-trick wicket. Hasaranga became the fifth Sri Lanka bowler to claim an ODI hat trick, and the third to do so on debut, after Taijul Islam and Kagiso Rabada.
Zimbabwe had their moments in the match, but unlike on Friday, could not mount pressure on Sri Lanka for sustained periods of time. Tendai Chatara claimed two wickets in his second over, but Upul Tharanga soon becalmed the innings, and very quickly, Sri Lanka were steadily sailing towards the target - Tharanga 75 not out, to follow his unbeaten 79 on Friday.
Hamilton Masakadza and Craig Ervine had earlier been involved in a promising 56-run second-wicket stand in Zimbabwe's innings, but when Masakadza was caught and bowled sharply by Asela Gunaratne, a collapse followed. Zimbabwe lost five of their top six for 52 runs, in the space of 10.3 overs. Malcolm Waller offered the only resistance, slapping six boundaries in his 29-ball 38 - all but one of those boundaries coming off the spinners. While he and Peter Moor were at the crease, Zimbabwe would still have hoped for a score of over 200, but Hasaranga would wipe out the tail faster than anyone would have imagined.
Gunathilaka played on attempting to pull Chatara in the third over, and Kusal Mendis edged a leg-side ball to the keeper, but though the early overs remained tense, Zimbabwe could not make enough headway in them to push the hosts. Tharanga was poised early in his innings, pushing gentle singles and twos while Niroshan Dickwella ventured more aggressive strokes, but when Sri Lanka passed 100, he began to flow. He hit two leg-side boundaries to go to his fifth fifty-plus score in his last eight innings, and continued to attack as Sri Lanka drew near the total. At the other end was Angelo Mathews, prodding his team towards their target with characteristic care.
Zimbabwe will perhaps feel that they deployed the sweep shot a little too eagerly on this occasion, after that stroke brought them Friday's success. Sri Lanka, meanwhile, may reflect on the benefits of deploying a wicket-taking spin bowler through the middle overs.
3rd ODI
Zimbabwe 310/8 (50.0 ov)
Sri Lanka 312/2 (47.2 ov)
Sri Lanka won by 8 wickets (with 16 balls remaining)
A score of over 300 used to be safe in Sri Lanka. Before Friday, chasing sides had attempted to run down scores of over 300 on 32 occasions, and failed every time. Now, in the space of a week, two such scores have been hunted down with ease - Sri Lanka today overhauling Zimbabwe's 310 for 8 with eight wickets in hand and 16 balls remaining, without ever really appearing to extend themselves.
Leading the pursuit today were Niroshan Dickwella and Danushka Gunathilaka - two first-time centurions - who, in a searing opening partnership that yielded 229 runs, left Sri Lanka in such an ascendant state that the remaining 82 runs almost seemed a formality.
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Dickwella, forever slinking around his crease, scored well over half his runs behind the wicket, playing sweeps, cuts, dabs and scoops aplenty. Gunathilaka, meanwhile, stood tall in his crease, and played an array of regal drives and disdainful pulls. Having trailed Dickwella for much of the innings, he would finish with 116 runs off 111 balls. Dickwella made 102 off 116 deliveries. Upul Tharanga and Kusal Mendis saw the chase home with little drama - Tharanga making 44 not out, to go with his two unbeaten fifties previously in the series.
That the hosts were chasing so many was thanks to a rollicking fifth ODI century from Hamilton Masakadza, which was followed by a rapid finish from Sikandar Raza and Peter Moor during a Zimbabwe innings in which even Lasith Malinga found himself besieged. Masakadza's 127-run second-wicket stand with Tarisai Musakanda - playing this match in place of Ryan Burl, who was admitted to hospital after aggravating a food allergy - formed the spine of Zimbabwe's innings, with Sean Williams also making a handy contribution.
Zimbabwe's own bowlers would soon themselves falter, thanks to the challenges of playing at this venue. Not only did the pitch offer little for seamers, such turn as it afforded spinners was slow and unthreatening, while Hambantota's lively crosswind complicated their quarry further. It also did not help that Zimbabwe dropped four catches, the costliest of which was the grassing of Dickwella at point, off the bowling of Williams, when the batsman had been on 64.
Neither team's bowlers emerged with much credit. Malcolm Waller was Zimbabwe's best - his tidy offspin accounting for the partnership-breaking wicket of Dickwella. Asela Gunaratne had earlier returned 2 for 53 from 10 overs, which turned out to be the best figures in the game. Malinga's figures were blown out by a 17-run final over, and he ended with 1 for 71 off nine overs. Lakshan Sandakan's 1 for 73 off ten did not make for pretty reading either.
Dickwella and Gunathilaka were immediately belligerent. Dickwella slapped the first ball of the innings - delivered by Carl Mumba - behind point for four, before Gunathilaka cracked two fours apiece off Mumba and Chatara in the second and third overs. It was a track on which very little sideways movement could be gleaned, and the bounce could be completely trusted. After five overs, Sri Lanka were flying, at 36 for none. After 10, with 11 fours between the openers, they were 69 for none. After 15 overs, they were 101… and well… you get the idea - the chase was almost velvet-smooth.
The only major hiccups were in Williams' first over. Dickwella reverse-swept a ball straight to point, who dropped it, before Gunathilaka briefly left his crease only for Peter Moor to fumble the ball and miss a very difficult stumping chance. But neither batsman appeared flustered at any stage. Dickwella got to his hundred in the 33rd over, and Gunathilaka in the 36th. They were out within six balls of each other, but the chase would pass to good hands.
Earlier, Masakadza had also been domineering from the outset, establishing a strike rate of better than 100 in the Powerplay, and maintaining it throughout. Both he and Musakanda appeared at ease during their big second-wicket stand. Sri Lanka's bowlers raised a few lbw appeals, but they largely came against the run of play, rather than as a result of sustained pressure. Musakanda did not advance quite as quickly as Masakadza, but still received enough loose deliveries to stroke into a favoured legside. Masakadza, meanwhile, hit his first fifty off 47 balls, then sped up, needing only 36 further deliveries to move into triple figures.
Wanidu Hasaranga and Gunaratne struck through the middle overs to keep Zimbabwe in check, but they batted deep enough to prosper in the slog overs nonetheless. Raza and Moor hit twenties to plunder 47 off the last four overs, but even a Zimbabwe innings as good as this could not prevent Sri Lanka from taking a 2-1 lead in the series.
4th ODI
Zimbabwe 219 for 6 beat Sri Lanka 300 for 6 by four wickets (DLS method)
Craig Ervine's experience and Malcolm Waller's composure blended well as Zimbabwe overcame rain, pressure and fading light to clinch a steep chase and take the series into the decider. The four-wicket win (Duckworth-Lewis-Stern method) in Hambantota was as much a result of their good work with the ball in the last 15 overs - they conceded only 92 to restrict Sri Lanka to 300 for 6 - as it was with the bat. This after Sri Lanka looked set for 350 at one stage, given the platform Niroshan Dickwella and Danushka Gunathilaka set with an opening partnership of 209. They became the first pair in ODI history to score back-to-back double-century stands.
Zimbabwe lost two quick wickets in their chase, but not before the openers had added 67 in nearly 10 overs, helped along by Solomon Mire's 30-ball 43. When rain stopped play after the 21st over, Zimbabwe were 139 for 3, nine runs ahead of the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern par score.
There was a brief scare when the rains arrived too, with Zimbabwe needing to bat out one over to constitute a game. Sensing the possibility of going off, Angelo Mathews reintroduced Lasith Malinga. The first two balls took three minutes even as the drizzle picked up, leaving umpire Nigel Llong to have a chat with Mathews to speed up proceedings. Malinga eventually finished the over and a relieved Zimbabwe played out one more over from Gunathilaka before they went off.
One hour and 36 minutes later, Zimbabwe's target was a much steeper 219 off 31 overs. Eight balls after resumption, they lost Sean Williams as he waltzed down the pitch to swing through, only to be stumped. Then, Wanindu Hasaranga, the 19-year old legspinner, picked up his third wicket with a sensational return catch to dismiss Sikandar Raza. Zimbabwe were trembling, the ball was suddenly keeping low. The equation read 47 off 34.
But Ervine stood firm, sweeping and reverse-sweeping his way to a half-century to keep Zimbabwe alive. Waller did his bit with three fours in a 13-ball 20, and the pair added 43 off 23 balls. When Waller was dismissed, Zimbabwe needed 4 off 11 deliveries and it was Ervine, who fittingly polished the match off with a delicate reverse paddle. Ervine's solidity was key before the rain interruption, too, helping Zimbabwe ride out a wobble after Hasaranga had got rid of Mire and Hamilton Masakadza in consecutive overs. Prior to this series, Zimbabwe had never won an ODI in Sri Lanka. On this tour alone, they have two wins, both emphatic.
The win meant that Sri Lanka's solid opening partnership and Dickwella's second consecutive ODI hundred were in vain. Dickwella's 116 made him the eighth Sri Lanka batsman to score successive ODI centuries while Gunathilaka, who curbed his aggressive style of play for a large part of the innings, contributed 87. Sri Lanka's total may have seemed enough on most days, but not against a young and unheralded batting line-up that came out and attacked with intent, seemingly unperturbed by the spin threat or the big boundaries.
That Sri Lanka found themselves behind in the second innings was because of a slowdown in their end overs. The inability of the middle order to come in and strike right from the outset gave Zimbabwe an outside chance, which they converted. The openers started cautiously before Dickwella signaled a change of intent by hitting Chris Mpofu for successive boundaries in the fifth over. Sri Lanka motored to 54 without loss in eight overs when captain Graeme Cremer introduced spin, bringing on Sikandar Raza. The move pushed both Sri Lanka batsmen into a slightly cautious approach, but their degree of control stood out. Dickwella brought up his half-century off 48 deliveries.
Gunathilaka also had some luck when Cremer put down a tough return catch with the batsman on 44. However, Gunathilaka accelerated soon after bringing up his half-century, even as Zimbabwe's bowlers persisted with the plan to contain the opposition. With 18 overs left, Sri Lanka were cruising at 193 without loss. Zimbabwe compounded their problems by reprieving both batsmen after they had crossed the 200-run mark but those errors did not turn out to be too costly as Waller accounted for both with his whippy offspin. Waller eventually finished with 2 for 44. While Mathews made a 40-ball 42, the lower order failed to kick on and Sri Lanka managed only 37 off the last five overs.
5th ODI
Sri Lanka 203/8 (50 ov)
Zimbabwe 204/7 (38.1/50 ov)
Zimbabwe won by 3 wickets (with 71 balls remaining)
They came to Sri Lanka ranked 11th, having been defeated by Scotland in the previous month, and having lost a series to Afghanistan earlier in the year. But bowling with venom, fielding with pep, and batting with intelligence, helped Zimbabwe win the deciding fifth ODI by three wickets in Hambantota, and stun the hosts 3-2. It is their first away series victory since 2009, and one of Zimbabwe cricket's finest moments ever.
Though their quartet of miserly spinners had trussed Sri Lanka up for 203 in their 50 overs, and though their openers slammed 92 for the first wicket, victory still had to be prised from their opposition on a slowing, turning deck. Zimbabwe were 137 for 1, when a Sri Lanka surge, led by Akila Dananjaya, claimed six wickets for 38.
But as long as Sikandar Raza was at the crease, Zimbabwe's chances of victory remained good. He survived the last of Dananjaya's overs, and alongside Graeme Cremer, saw out a burst of swinging Lasith Malinga yorkers. Having been such a high-impact player over the past nine days, perhaps it was also fitting that Raza made the series' final play. With six to get, he ran down the pitch and deposited Wanindu Hasaranga over the straight boundary to spark elation in the dressing room. His 27 nerveless runs followed an excellent turn with the ball, with which he captured 3 for 27 - two of those wickets having come in the tone-setting first 10 overs.
Hamilton Masakadza capped an outstanding series with an 86-ball 73, Solomon Mire and Tarisai Musakanda made useful batting contributions, and the other spinners - Cremer, Malcolm Waller and Sean Williams - all made important breakthroughs as well. So many in this Zimbawe outfit can take credit for the series triumph - almost every batsman has produced an impactful innings, Tendai Chatara has been reliable, and they have outfielded Sri Lanka too - though that is not the compliment it once was.
Sri Lanka will be left to rue their timidity with the bat - which was brought into sharp relief by Zimbabwe's openers - and their lack of ambition with the ball in the early overs. Where Raza had been immediately menacing, slowing the ball down, and tossing it tantalisingly up, Sri Lanka's spinners bowled too quickly through the early overs, when Mire and Masakadza were mowing them down. Even Dananjaya, who later found rhythm and wound up with 4 for 47, went wicketless in his first four overs and conceded 25 runs. In their defence, three of the six main bowlers in this match had played less than 15 ODIs.
For the third time in the series, Chatara took the first Sri Lanka wicket, but it was through Raza's calculative first spell that Zimbabwe truly applied their tentacles to this innings. He got Kusal Mendis to chip a ball to short midwicket after drawing him down the pitch, then ripped a perfectly-pitched ball past Upul Tharanga's forward defence to rattle off stump. Where in each of the previous two matches, Sri Lanka put up opening stands in excess of 200, they were 34 for three after 11 overs in this game. Raza had bowled six of those overs, and his two wickets had cost only 11 runs.
No Sri Lanka batsman appeared fluent, but Danushka Gunathilaka was the best of them in the early overs, using his long stride to smother some of the spin that foxed his teammates. Even so, his 47-run fourth-wicket partnership with Angelo Mathews was stilted. Mathews had picked up what seemed to be a groin strain early in his innings, and was unable to take the tight singles and twos that are perhaps at a premium on a pitch such as this. When he was caught at slip for 24, playing a tired drive to Graeme Cremer, Sri Lanka were 78 for 4, and already in serious trouble.
Gunathilaka passed fifty for the fourth time in the series, but then lost concentration, and his wicket. Before long, Sri Lanka were 126 for 7 in the 35th over, and it took an intelligent 59 not out from Asela Gunaratne to help them bat through to the 50th over and put up a serviceable score. He had gelled well with No. 10 batsman Dushmantha Chameera. Together, they mustered 34 off the last four overs - Gunaratne shuffling around the crease to hit square boundaries. Their unbeaten 50-run stand was the best of the innings.
Each of Zimbabwe's openers survived close calls early: a Lasith Malinga slower ball missing Hamilton Masakadza's off stump by centimetres, before Solomon Mire successfully overturned an lbw decision against him off Nuwan Kulasekara. But if there were early nerves, they would soon be clobbered into submission.
Mire biffed three fours and a six off the fourth over - bowled by Kulasekara - and once Zimbabwe were off, it was more or less a Powerplay boundary binge. The batsmen would hit one six apiece, and nine fours in total by the end of the 10th over, many of those hits coming down the ground. At that stage, Zimbabwe had knocked 62 off the total. Though Mire would soon lose his stumps, trying to paddle sweep Gunaratne, a further 40 would come off the next six overs, and Zimbabwe would be halfway to the winning score.
Malinga's dismissal of Masakadza in the 24th over seemed a mere bump at the time, with so much batting to come, but bowling to left-handers now, flight, dip and rip returned to Dananjaya's game, and he threatened to derail the chase. He first had Craig Ervine lbw, had Williams caught at short midwicket soon after, had Musakanda holing out to long on, and in his final over, had Peter Moor caught at leg gully. Malinga supported him with a tight spell and the wicket of Waller at the other end, but Zimbabwe could almost taste victory by now.
Raza and Cremer tiptoed onwards through the last of these bowlers' spells, and saw the team through to a famous victory. Much will be made of Sri Lanka's failures in the series, but Zimbabwe played some clever and courageous cricket to overturn their hosts.
Day 1
Zimbabwe 344/8 (90.0 ov)
Sri Lanka
Zimbabwe won the toss and elected to bat
The score was 38 for 2 when Craig Ervine came to the crease. Within 10 overs, Zimbabwe would slip further, to 70 for 4, on a track that already seemed to be spitting. But for the remainder of the day, Ervine resisted Sri Lanka's spinners, and Colombo's sticky heat, to drive his team to a strong position, and himself to 151 not out. The lower order rallied around him, No. 10 Donald Tiripano - in particular - contributing 24 to an as-yet unbroken 62-run stand. Zimbabwe ended the day at 344 for 8, when at one time, it appeared as if 200 might be a struggle.
Sri Lanka were reliant - as ever - on Rangana Herath for breakthroughs, and though he had two wickets in his first three overs, could claim only two further scalps in his next 27. Dilruwan Perera had Sean Williams top edge a sweep to square leg, but was largely unthreatening - outstripped for menace even by Asela Gunaratne, who was expensive, but beat the bat and claimed two wickets. On a track as slow as this, Suranga Lakmal and Lahiru Kumara were always going to struggle. The main positive for Sri Lanka, is that on the first day of Dinesh Chandimal's leadership, they took all their chances, and fielded with uncharacteristic zest.
Ervine was measured to begin with. It took him 13 balls to score a run, and his first 50 deliveries brought just 19. Then the offside strokes began to flow - drives to overpitched deliveries mainly, but soon, cuts as well. Steadily growing confident through the day, reverse sweeps eventually began to prove productive, paddles around the corner were increasingly deployed, and though the likes of Herath would beat his bat late into the day, the quicks did not trouble him at all.
The hundred - the second of his career - came not long after tea, via a sweep off Herath. The maiden 150 was achieved in the penultimate over of the day. Along the way, Ervine had struck 13 fours - most of these on the off side - and a six over wide long on. The significant partnerships he was involved in, were many. There was an 84-run fifth-wicket recovery alongside Sikander Raza for a start, then a 65-run seventh-wicket stand with Malcolm Waller, which put Zimbabwe within range of a fine first innings total. The stand that hurt Sri Lanka most, perhaps, was the one he wrought with Tiripano - a brisk, busy association, during which Zimbabwe scored at almost four an over. Where at one point in the day, it appeared as if Zimbabwe would roll over, Sri Lanka know now that they are in a fight.
The hosts would have had such different hopes for the day. Herath, introduced by Chandimal in the eighth over, struck with his third ball, as Regis Chakabva played all around a delivery that dipped near his feet, and would go on to hit the stumps. Not long after, Hamilton Masakadza - one of Sri Lanka's tormentors from the ODIs - had popped a catch to short leg off the insede edge of the bat. Sean Williams attempted to counterattack Zimbabwe out of their early troubles, and wound up top edging a ball he tried to sweep against the turn, and Tarisai Musakanda, on debut, was the day's only victim of seam bowling. He was originally ruled not out when Sri Lanka appealed for a catch off Lahiru Kumara's bowling. Upon review, however, a faint edge was detected and that decision overturned. Musakanda's 6 was also the only single-figure score on the Zimbabwe card, though no one apart from Ervine mustered a fifty. Raza and Waller came closest, hitting 36 apiece.
Although it was clear towards the end of the day that Zimbabwe were en route to a score of around 300, Sri Lanka perhaps would not have expected Tiripano to bat with such skill. He has a first-class hundred to his name however, and if he can support Ervine further in the morning, Zimbabwe might turn this from a highly competitive score to a commanding one.
Day 2
Zimbabwe 356
Sri Lanka 293/7 (83.0 ov)
Sri Lanka trail by 63 runs with 3 wickets remaining in the 1st innings
Graeme Cremer spun them hard and his team-mates stretched, dived and hunted balls down in the field so splendidly that, at the end of the second day in Colombo, Zimbabwe finished with a good chance of taking a first-innings lead - Sri Lanka seven down, and still 63 runs behind.
Where Craig Ervine held Zimbabwe's innings of 356 together, Cremer performed a similar role with the ball. Thirty of Zimbabwe's 82 overs were his, and rarely did batsmen appear to have his measure.
The legspinner found increasing assistance from the surface, beat the edge regularly through the second half of the day, and brought himself on to break the hosts' rhythm whenever they appeared comfortable at the crease. Figures of 3 for 100 do not flatter the impact he had on the day.
Sri Lanka, meanwhile, will rue two mini-collapses: the first just after lunch, which cost them their top three for 32 runs, and the second soon after tea, in which three further wickets fell for 26. This, after the openers had begun with such confidence. Upul Tharanga was regal at the top, racing to 26 off his first 14 balls, his delectably timed drives piercing the tight infield. He and Dimuth Karunaratne put on 84 for the first wicket, before that first stumble took place.
Sri Lanka will regret their batsmen not having gone on to triple figures, and Tharanga will regret it most. He was perfectly at ease during virtually the whole of his 71, and was only dismissed because of a little carelessness while backing up at the non-striker's end. The last wicket of the day - Dilruwan Perera's - was also a run-out, and again it was of a batsman who had begun to get the better of the bowling.
The tide began turning thanks to Zimbabwe poking holes in the hosts' middle order. Barring a 96-run stand for the fourth-wicket between Dinesh Chandimal - who scored the only other half-century of the innings - and Angelo Mathews, there weren't very many contributions. And as a result, Sri Lanka were left relying on Asela Gunaratne, struggling with a hamstring injury he picked up in the field, to take them closer to parity.
It had been a loose Karunaratne shot that had set Sri Lanka's first slide in motion. Having played cautiously through the morning session, he attempted to cut a ball angled into him by Donald Tiripano, and sent a thick edge to slip, where Hamilton Masakadza held the sharp chance.
His confidence bolstered by that breakthrough, Tiripano stacked the offside infield, and delivered a disciplined spell, in which he dared the batsmen to take risks. There were no further wickets for him, but at the other end, Kusal Mendis nicked a bouncing, turning delivery from Cremer, which he perhaps did not need to play at. Mendis has often been jumpy at the start of his innings, and this knock was no different. In 15 balls at the crease, he attempted several pull shots and often found the fielders.
Tharanga, meanwhile, who could not have looked more natural plundering the seamers and advancing down the pitch at the spinners, was the victim both of his own carelessness and a little bad luck. When Chandimal drove Tiripano straight, the bowler managed to get fingertips to the ball, which then clattered into the stumps at the non-striker's end. Tharanga had not bothered to keep his bat in the crease, using it to lean on instead. His boot was on the crease, but not behind it.
Cremer was the protagonist in the next big Sri Lanka stutter. The pitch had begun to sing for him in the second half of the second session, and switching ends after tea, he bowled himself into a fresh rhythm. Chandimal reached his half-century by then, but Cremer, ripping the ball more with each passing over, got it to dip and turn sharply. It flicked the shoulder of Chandimal's bat and wicketkeeper Regis Chakabva picked up his second difficult catch of the day.
Four overs later, another big turner from Cremer made a further dent in Sri Lanka's innings - Niroshan Dickwella fell unable to handle one that pounced at him off a length. The well-set Mathews was the next to depart. Attempting to paddle-sweep Sean Williams against the turn, he offered only a top-edge to the legside, which Masakadza - running back from slip - snaffled up with a full-length dive.
Sri Lanka were now on 238 for 6 and Dilruwan, having been promoted to No. 7 as a result of Gunaratne's niggle, took on the responsibility of pushing the innings forward. He did so by taking calculated risks against the spinners - hitting Sikander Raza and Williams for one six apiece - but just as his partnership with Gunaratne, who came in at No. 8, began to look good, Zimbabwe managed to break it.
Gunaratne cut a ball forward of point, and set off for the run. Dilruwan, however, was late to respond, and by the time a diving Tarisai Musakanda made the stop, flicked the ball to Malcolm Waller at cover in one smooth motion, and Waller then found Chakabva behind the stumps, Perera was caught short by at least a metre. It was a spectacular piece of fielding.
Rangana Herath played a customary slog sweep to make the final runs of the day, but thanks to a doughty Zimbabwe performance, and Sri Lanka's sloppy running, the hosts will begin day three in a precarious position.
Early in the day, Sri Lanka had opened the bowling with Lahiru Kumara - the wilder, but more aggressive seam option in their team - and, thanks in part to the early pressure he created, Zimbabwe's two remaining wickets cost only 12 runs.
It was Herath, however, who made the first breakthrough. Tiripano attempted the reverse sweep that had brought him success on the first afternoon, but managed only to send the ball to Karunaratne at slip. That was Herath's 378th dismissal, taking him past the tallies of Malcolm Marshall and Waqar Younis. He also wrapped up his 30th five-wicket haul, putting him clear at fifth on that all-time list, behind four bona fide greats of the game.
Day 3
Zimbabwe 356 & 252/6 (68.0 ov)
Sri Lanka 346
Zimbabwe lead by 262 runs with 4 wickets remaining
All through the tour, Sri Lanka have had Zimbabwe cornered, and games have threatened to follow a familiar, one-sided form. Yet all through the tour, Zimbabwe have found ways of resisting, of stubbornly holding out, and eventually fighting back.
Day three at Khettarama saw perhaps their most impressive turnaround yet. Having eked out a 10-run first-innings lead in the morning, Zimbabwe found themselves 23 for 4, then 59 for 5. But for the remainder of the day, the middle order would rally around an adventurous Sikandar Raza, and turn the match in dramatic fashion. Having played definitive hands in Zimbabwe's ODI series, Raza stood on the verge of a vital maiden Test ton, finishing the day on 97 off 158 balls. Peter Moor struck 40 and joined him for a sixth-wicket stand of 86. Malcolm Waller did even better, cracking 57 off 76 deliveries in an unbroken seventh-wicket partnership worth 107.
All this means that Zimbabwe now control the Test, and may even have put themselves in a position to pull off the unexpected result of the year. Overturning Sri Lanka in ODIs was surprising enough, but in Tests, the hosts may not have dreamed they would be challenged by the lowest ranked team - one they have consistently thrashed over the past two decades. But with Zimbabwe's lead at 262 their target is already a challenging one. If the score grows by another 100 runs, could become a near-impossible pursuit.
Unusually, Sri Lanka have caught well in this Test, but the bowling has been consistently menace-free. Of the 16 Zimbabwe wickets to have fallen, Rangana Herath has claimed nine. For the second half of day three, he seemed the only bowler capable of beating the Zimbabwe batsmen, and had he not run riot in the first session, Sri Lanka's position would have been even bleaker. Dilruwan Perera was not miserly enough for a bowler who isn't taking wickets, Lahiru Kumara's lines have been too wayward, and Suranga Lakmal has been modest in unhelpful conditions. Sri Lanka are also missing the bowling of Asela Gunaratne, whose tweaked hamstring had substantially hampered his running between the wickets, and now has kept him off the field in the second innings.
The first 10 balls of Raza's innings defined his approach. First ball, he had picked a single to fine leg. After three further singles off the next five balls, he punched a ball out to the cover sweeper and took two. Though his team was threatening to be all out for 120, Raza took seven off the first 10 balls, and batted as if they were 300 for 5. He favoured the lap sweep and the drive off the spinners, and rarely failed to find gaps when he was looking for them.
Perhaps the only real chance in his innings came when he was 31, when he attempted to reverse sweep Herath, but only ended up top-edging the ball. Slip fielder Dimuth Karunaratne - who had already taken two excellent catches in the innings - might have been in a position to make a third take, had he not begun moving squarer in anticipation of where he felt the ball may travel. As it happened, the ball bisected the keeper and slip before skimming away to the third man fence. Raza would hit two more fours in that over to make it Herath's most expensive of the innings. Outside that over, Raza only struck four fours and a six.
Waller was more openly aggressive - but only by a little bit - as he hit eight fours, and repeatedly put bowlers under pressure by scoring singles and twos freely as well. His fourth Test fifty had come off just 54 deliveries, before the final overs of the day prompted a slowdown from both batsmen. Beyond Waller, Zimbabwe also have Graeme Cremer and Donald Tiripano, both of whom have first-class centuries to their names.
Before Raza came to the crease, Herath had knocked out Zimbabwe's top three in his first four overs, before Perera also took a wicket. By lunch, Sri Lanka had had them by the collar, at 23 for 4. Taking the new ball, Herath needed an over to settle, but the first delivery of his second over was of a higher quality than Regis Chakabva had the ability to handle. Breaking more sharply than any of his deliveries in the first over, the ball missed Chakabva's defensive shot, and hit the top of the off stump. That over would go on to be a wicket-maiden, which Herath's next would be as well. This time, having beaten Tarisai Musakanda's inside edge with a slider, Herath tossed the ball up slightly wider, tempted Musakanda into an expansive drive, and then had him caught sharply by Karunaratne at slip.
Herath's next dismissal - in his following over - was perhaps the most controversial wicket of the wicket-filled session. Attempting a big sweep, Hamilton Masakadza was struck in front. There was no doubt the ball would go on to hit the stumps, but perhaps feeling it brushed his glove on the way, Masakadza reviewed the out decision, and there was not enough evidence to overturn the on-field call.
All this followed a milestone for Cremer who became the first Zimbabwe captain to take a five-wicket haul. He had taken two of the last three Sri Lanka wickets in the morning, and had helped eke out a 10-run first innings lead. Cremer now will have plenty to defend as Zimbabwe set their sights on a rare victory against a top-eight team.
Day 4
Zimbabwe 356 & 377
Sri Lanka 346 & 170/3
Sri Lanka require another 218 runs with 7 wickets remaining
Graeme Cremer stuck himself into Sri Lanka's flesh on the fourth day, first making a stubborn 48 from No. 9, then claiming two wickets in the third session, as Zimbabwe dismissed three Sri Lankan batsmen in their defense of 388. Thanks to Cremer, Zimbabwe's dreams of a historic win against Sri Lanka are alive, but even if they are chasing a target that has never successfully been pursued on the island, the hosts are not quite out of the game yet.
At the crease is a sparkling Kusal Mendis, who has hit 60 off 85 balls so far, and has refused to let the spinners settle to him, on what has now become a slightly treacherous pitch. Alongside him stands Angelo Mathews, one of Sri Lanka's best-ever fourth-innings batsmen. With an inexperienced Niroshan Dickwella, and an injured Asela Gunaratne to come, this, you suspect, is the partnership that will have to bloom if Sri Lanka are to score the further 218 required for victory. They have so far managed 170 for 3. The game stands tantalisingly poised.
Worryingly for the hosts, all three of their dismissals so far were brought about by significant turn. Cremer broke the opening stand that had yielded 58, tossing one up outside Upul Tharanga's off stump, and spinning it in more sharply than Tharanga expected. The ball would take the inside edge, and pop up for a simple bat-pad catch. Later, Cremer also had Dinesh Chandimal caught at slip, luring the batsman into a forward prod, and having it take the outside edge.
The most extraordinary dismissal of the day, however, belonged to Sean Williams, who turned the ball as far anyone has managed in the game. Pitching it well wide of Dimuth Karunaratne, Williams had the ball surge back off the rough. So wide had it pitched, that Karunaratne - who had batted fluently until then - did not even bother offering a shot, and could only watch as the ball hit his off stump.
Karunaratne had set the early tone for the innings, searching intently for scoring options, which he found most easily on the legside. His 49 off 84 balls had only one boundary - a pulled four off Sikandar Raza in the fifth over. Tharanga, who had been so quick to set off in the first innings, began watchfully here, making only one run from his first 15 balls. Eventually, he began to find the boundary, and steered Sri Lanka to 56 for no loss in the company of Karunaratne, before losing his wicket in the second over after the break.
Mendis came to the crease, picked up two singles, then made his first statement of the innings, sweeping his ninth ball - from Cremer - flat and hard to the square leg boundary. It is a stroke Mendis plays exceedingly well, and one that has defined this tour. Perhaps the shot of the day was another Mendis sweep, off Cremer again, in the 33rd over, when the legside sweeper had fewer than 10 metres to run in order to cut the shot off, but was beaten by the power behind the stroke. In between six legside boundaries, Mendis found singles and twos square of the wicket, and sent his innings skimming along at such a lively pace, it was easy, at times, to forget the match situation.
Mathews, often a slow starter, perhaps took Mendis' lead and sought out the run-scoring opportunities. His 17 not out off 33 balls featured a straight six off Cremer.
Sri Lanka had been set as many as 388 - which, if pursued, would be the fifth-highest successful chase in Test cricket - partly because of their bowlers' continuing lack of menace on the fourth day, though perhaps an unhelpful surface can take some of the blame. Through large parts of Monday, Rangana Herath again appeared to be the sole Sri Lankan threat, picking up two further wickets to take his tally to 11 for the Test. Dilruwan Perera provided better support for Herath on Monday, but only occasionally bowled a threatening ball. Suranga Lakmal finished wicketless after 28 overs in this match. Lahiru Kumara was a little better, gleaning some reverse swing with the old ball, but still did not create more than one chance on the day - an edge off Cremer's bat that flew through vacant third slip.
Though there will be a little trepidation about what the final day holds, the fourth had begun joyfully for Zimbabwe, as Raza required only two deliveries to move to a maiden Test ton. He then immediately set about building on Zimbabwe's lead as if what was probably the personal milestone of his career was merely a distraction from the real job at hand. The sweep and reverse sweep were popular against the spinners again, but Raza's most eye-catching boundary of the morning was an assertive straight punch, off Lakmal, in the 76th over.
His overnight partner, Waller, meanwhile, had a quiet morning, and holed out attempting his first boundary of the day, closing out the seventh wicket stand at 144 runs. Raza was visibly livid with his teammate for hitting a long hop straight to deep midwicket, but was out himself, 17 runs later, attempting a reverse sweep against Herath only to miss the delivery and have it clatter his stumps.
Cremer and No. 10 Donald Tiripano continued Zimbabwe's onward march, however, taking risk-free runs and hitting out only at the truly poor deliveries, just as the batsmen had done. Sri Lanka, who had held their catches until the third day, contributed to their own frustration on Monday by grassing two. Just before lunch, Karunaratne failed to hold a tough chance low to his right at slip, reprieving Cremer on 32. Perera, the bowler on that occasion, would see another chance go down off his bowling after lunch, when Lahiru Kumara fumbled a straightforward catch off Tiripano at mid-off. The Cremer-Tiripano ninth-wicket stand was Zimbabwe's best of the day, yielding 55 runs.
Perera would eventually get Tiripano lbw for 19, before Herath drew a top-edge from a sweeping Cremer to end the innings. But that was not before Chris Mpofu had biffed a six, and the last-wicket pair had added another 16 together.
Day 5
Zimbabwe 356 & 377
Sri Lanka 346 & 391/6
Sri Lanka won by 4 wickets
A lively 121-run stand for the sixth wicket between Asela Gunaratne and Niroshan Dickwella was the centerpiece of a great escape for the hosts, and a sapping defeat for a daring Zimbabwe side.
Zimbabwe had never beaten Sri Lanka, of course, but also, the 388 they had set had also never been chased either by Sri Lanka, or by anyone on the island. In the end, Sri Lanka achieved the target with four wickets in hand - Gunaratne having prodded his team sensibly onward. He was on 80 when the winning runs were hit. Dickwella had made 81. Graeme Cremer, who had raised Zimbabwe's hopes when he dismissed both Kusal Mendis and Angelo Mathews within the first hour of play, was left with four wickets to his name, as his team failed to claim the chances that might have punctured Sri Lanka's resurgence. Once the initial disappointment fades, however, Zimbabwe may reflect that they have played with incredible courage here, and at least have that ODI series trophy to take home with them.
Three denied or missed wicket opportunities, all of them involving wicketkeeper Regis Chakabva, will haunt Zimbabwe. First, with Dickwella on 37 and Sri Lanka on 237 for 5, Chakabva whipped off the bails and appealed, after Dickwella had overbalanced, missing a ball from Sikandar Raza. It was a close decision: no part of the crease was visible behind Dickwella's boot. However, no part of the boot appeared to be behind the crease either, so on balance Dickwella should have been given out. But third umpire Chettithody Shamshuddin would rule him not out, and Dickwella would go on produce one of the game's definitive performances.
Zimbabwe should have had Dickwella again on 63, when Sean Williams induced an edge with a sliding delivery, only for Chakabva - who had kept immaculately until then - to fumble the chance. Sri Lanka had at the time been 102 runs from the target. Finally, after Dickwella had eventually been dismissed, Gunaratne would also be reprieved by Chakabva. Running down the track at Cremer on 54, Gunaratne failed to reach the pitch of the ball, and had it turn and beat him down the leg side. Chakabva could not gather cleanly, and Gunaratne made it back into the crease. Had he been out at that point, Sri Lanka would have been seven down, with Rangana Herath and Dilruwan Perera new at the crease, 50 runs still to get.
But aside from that indiscretion, Gunaratne was a calming influence on the chase. He was always on the lookout for risk-free runs, rarely failing to take the most sensible option on offer, hitting boundaries only off the wayward balls, and running hard for his partner - strained hamstring and all. Where others were largely reliant on the sweep for their runs, Gunaratne also had in his repertoire the short-arm pull, which could fetch him runs in a wide arc between midwicket and fine leg. While he was at the crease, there was a steadiness to the chase.
Not for Dickwella, however, was restraint or control. He swept and reverse-swept merrily, often venturing down the pitch to the spinners, and getting pad or boot to ball on the occasions he could not hit it with his bat. His innings featured only six fours, but that is partly because the energy and ambition he brought to the crease forced Zimbabwe to post more men on the fence than they would ideally have liked. Even before lunch, the rhythm with which Zimbabwe's bowlers had operated in the early overs, seemed slightly upset.
As the stand with Gunaratne grew after the break, nerves appeared to enter Zimbabwe's game for the first time in two days. Dickwella brought up his fifty off the 69th delivery he faced, clubbing Chris Mpofu to the midwicket fence. He slowed down after the milestone, but had nevertheless changed the outlook of the match. He was caught behind off the glove attempting to reverse-sweep Sean Williams, but Sri Lanka needed only 64 at that stage, and in the end, no further wickets fell. Dilruwan Perera contributed a shaky 29. It would be enough.
But how Zimbabwe had shaken Sri Lanka in the morning. Mendis, who had batted with such assurance on day four, attempted to sweep a wide and full Cremer delivery, and wound up sending a top edge to mid-on. That was only the sixth over of the day. When Angelo Mathews then chipped a return catch to Cremer eight overs later, with 185 runs still to get, the chase was in crisis. Zimbabwe ringed the new men, and only an innings as risk-riddled as Dickwella's could loosen their grip on this game.
Relief will be Sri Lanka's first emotion to the victory, but perhaps there will also be contentment that three of their less experienced players played important roles in the chase. Gunaratne and Dickwella have 12 Tests between them, and the only other man to cross fifty was 22-year old Mendis. While the bowling attack requires substantial inspection, the batting, at least appears in half-decent shape.
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