In sports, healthy self-confidence can enable athletes to achieve extraordinary results. Zimbabwe beat co-hosts Sri Lanka by six wickets in Colombo on Thursday after a 23-run victory over a strong Australia side six nights ago.
Chasing 179 on a slow Premadasa wicket looked daunting but the Zimbabweans never lost faith. The chase started with a 69-run start, with openers Brian Bennett and Tadiwanashe Marumani (26b, 5×4, 1×6 totaling 34 runs).
However, it was captain Sikandar Raza who decided the chase. Raza, fourth, struggled to find timing and rhythm at first, but Zimbabwe held on. After 14 overs, 65 runs were needed and then Raza released himself. He blasted Sri Lanka’s top spinners Dushan Hemantha and Maheesh Theekshana for 32 runs in two overs and completely turned the game around.
At the other end, Bennett ran the inning with calm authority. He scored another unbeaten half-century with a 48-ball 63, including eight boundaries. The 21-year-old guided Zimbabwe through a tense midfield game. They stuttered a bit after losing Raza, posting a whirlwind 26-ball 45, with Tahinga Musekiva hitting quick succession in a frantic final over, but Bennett calmly hit the winner to sort things out.
Bennett remains unbeaten in this T20 World Cup, while Zimbabwe are also unbeaten as they have the second-highest successful run chase in T20Is. They finished the league stage at the top of Group B. Their performance was so impressive that their failure to qualify for the 2024 event seems almost unbelievable.
Earlier, Sri Lanka batted first with in-form opener Pathum Nissanka’s 41-ball 62 (8×4) setting the stage for the team’s total of 178/7.
But tonight’s story is about Zimbabwe. Man of the Match Raza summed it up in his post-match speech: “Everyone loves an underdog story.”
Brief score: Zimbabwe: 182/4 (Bennett 63*, Raza 45, Hemantha 2/36), Sri Lanka 178/7 (Nissanka 62, Rathnayake 44, Cremer 2/27) with six wickets.
