When Zimbabwe arrived in Sri Lanka less than a fortnight ago, they were yet to win a single game in the island nation. But the African team has now registered two wins in the last four matches with the latest series-levelling victory coming in the fourth One-Day International at Hambantota on Saturday (July 2). Graeme Cremer & Co. overcame rain and bad light to beat the hosts by four wickets (Duckworth-Lewis-Stern method) in the rain-curtailed tie.
Delighted with the win, Zimbabwe skipper Cremer said his team has achieved beyond expectations. Zimbabwe had begun the series with a historic 6-wicket victory in the first ODI before losing by seven wickets in the following game. In the third ODI, they had scored 310 but Sri Lanka had chased down that total easily.
“I think we have achieved beyond expectations as Sri Lanka is a tough place to tour. It’s hard to win against Sri Lanka who play so well at home. I would say it’s unexpected. They are a very hard team to beat at home. Credit to our guys for sticking with it in tough situations,” Cremer told journalists after the win.
Cremer further expressed his delight over the win before saying that a historic series win would be a ‘huge thing’ for his team.
“We have had a few good games but nothing like this. A series win would be excellent for us. To beat a top team like Sri Lanka in Sri Lanka will be a huge thing for us,” he mentioned.
Chasing 301, Zimbabwe had their back against the wall after being reduced to 128 for 3 before rain halted the game with the scorecard reading 139 in 21 overs. And when they came out to bat, the revised target was 219 in 31 overs. Their task became only tougher when Sean William returned to the pavilion eight balls after resumption. Sikandar Raza also failed to contribute much but Craig Ervine’s unbeaten 69 and Malcolm Waller’s 13-ball 20 took Zimbabwe over the line in the 30th over.
Cremer said that the pressure will be on Sri Lanka in the series-decider to be played on Monday (July 10).
“They probably didn’t expect this. We believed that we could achieve. I assume the pressure is more on them because they expected to beat us. We won’t take any pressure into the final [game]. We will take the confidence from this game. The confidence is pretty high for us,” he said.
Cremer also lauded Ervine for his match-winning knock under pressure.
“He was under pressure coming into this game. He has been in good form but didn’t have a score in the last couple of games. He has been the anchor of our batting line-up for a long time. We knew if he gets past 20 he will be able to get a score to win us a game. That shows his potential and his experience to control the game so well. That was good,” Cremer said.
The skipper also praised his bowlers for pulling back things in the latter stages of the game. Sri Lanka were looking destined to score well over 300 after their openers added 209 runs for the first wicket but the Zimbabwe bowlers managed to pull back things in the final overs, conceding only 92 runs in the last 15 overs to restrict the home side to 300.
“I am very happy with what we have done. We thought that 300 was a gettable total. The way we bowled in the last 15 overs to restrict them was good. At one stage, they were looking at 340. Credit to all the bowlers and fielders for pulling it back,” he concluded.