The background:
Zimbabwe had arrived in Sri Lanka earlier this month without a single ODI win in the island country or a series win against their fancied opponents. However, Graeme Cremer & Co. broke the duck with some sizzling performances in the recently-concluded five-match ODI series. The African team began the series in an emphatic manner, winning the first ODI by chasing down a daunting 315 before winning the last two ODIs to win the series 3-2.
The historic series-win was Zimbabwe’s first bilateral ODI series away from home since they had beaten Kenya in 2009.
The story:
The shocking series loss might have extended Sri Lanka’s poor run this year but India’s spin spearhead Ravichandran Ashwin feels Zimbabwe punching over their weight is good for the game.
“With regard to Zimbabwe winning over Sri Lanka, that’s how the game goes, anybody can lose, anybody can win. Tomorrow Afghanistan may beat someone, so that’s the way the sport needs to (go). It is very healthy for the game,” Ashwin was quoted as saying by PTI.
Zimbabwe, who entered the series as the eleventh ranked ODI team, won their first bilateral ODI series away from home against a Full Member since 2001. The win in Sri Lanka is only their third bilateral away series win against a Full Member team out of a total of 29 series.
Sri Lanka still under pressure:
This year has been very much forgettable for the Sri Lankan team. Barring the T20 series win in Australia, they have nothing to show. They were thrashed 5-0 by South Africa in ODIs, failed to win the home series against Bangladesh, exited the Champions Trophy at the group stage and are now struggling in the ongoing one-off Test against Zimbabwe.
Moreover, with their inspirations all-rounder Angelo Mathews stepping down as the captain from all the formats, the island nation faces a herculean task of getting back on track under new captains.