Sri Lanka win shows Zimbabwe's character – Cremer

Captain Graeme Cremer said Zimbabwe's 12-run win over Sri Lanka shows the character of his side as they bounced back from an opening tri-series defeat by Bangaldesh. Sikandar Raza and Tendai Chatara starred in Mirpur as Zimbabwe put on 290/6 in their 50 overs before bowling Sri Lanka out for 278.

Raza smashed 81 from 67 balls to add the finishing touches to foundations laid by Hamilton Masakadza (73), while Chatara took 4/33, including the crucial late wicket of Thisara Perera (64 off 34 balls).

The victory saw Zimbabwe continue their recent good form against Sri Lanka, having beaten them 3-2 in an away ODI series back in July 2017. It also came as the perfect response to the comprehensive defeat by hosts Bangladesh in their opening game.

"We could not have hoped for anything better with the bat," Cremer said. "Sikandar came good with bat and ball. It shows the character of the team to bounce back after the beating in the last game. At one point, we thought 260 would be a par score. We know the quality Sri Lanka have in their batting so credit to our bowlers as well."

Zimbabwe batted first and put together plenty of partnerships, with Solomon Mire (34), Brendan Taylor (38) and Malcom Walker (29) all making contributions before Raza's burst saw them score 48 runs from the final four overs. Cremer's side scored 75 runs for the first wicket, 57 for the third and fifth wickets and 61 for the sixth wicket to carry them up to 290.

Although Kusal Perera (80 off 83 balls), Angelo Matthews (42) and Dinesh Chandimal (34) made scores, Sri Lanka needed Thisara Perera's big-hitting to get close. But Chatara and Kyle Jarvis (2/56) chipped away and when Perera fell late on so did Sri Lanka's chances.

Despite his heroics with the bat and 1/54 with the ball all-rounder Raza was not happy with his bowling initially. "I did plenty wrong," he said. "The way I started with the ball was exactly what the team didn't want but the way we bounced back showed our character. We always knew one wicket would bring another. We always wanted that wicket of Thisara and we got that."

Victory means Zimbabwe are back in the tri-series. Sri Lanka play hosts Bangladesh on Friday before the two sides re-matches on Sunday. Follow Bangladesh v Sri Lanka here on Friday.