Zimbabwe v Sri Lanka, The Final Preview
Zimbabwe, after edging out the West Indies by one point to make it to the final of the triangular One-Day International series in its backyard, will be looking to give its fans at home something to cheer about with a rare series win when it takes on Sri Lanka in the title round in Bulawayo on Sunday (November 27).
Tendai Chisoro played a crucial role with bat and ball as Zimbabwe staged a remarkable comeback to defeat West Indies in the sixth match of the competition. In the rain-affected game, Chisoro scored an unbeaten 42 and then claimed 2 for 23 in six overs to help Zimbabwe recover from a difficult position and win by five runs via the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern method.
As a result, the West Indies missed out on playing the final after losing a close game against Sri Lanka and tying its other match against Zimbabwe.
Sikander Raza, with 158 runs in four matches, has been the most successful batsman for Zimbabwe, and has been supported by Craig Ervine and Peter Moor.
There are no Zimbabweans in the list of top-eight wicket-takers in the tournament so far, which could be a concern for Graeme Cremer, the captain, but he would have to draw inspiration from Chisoro's uplifting burst the other day and the performances of Sean Williams and Donald Tiripano.
Meanwhile, Sri Lanka, despite coming into the final having scraped past the West Indies in the fifth match of the tournament by just one run, will back itself to come good.
Sri Lanka has been hit by a number of injuries to its senior players, but has managed to click as a unit on the tour so far. In Dhananjaya de Silva, Niroshan Dickwella, Kusal Mendis and Upul Tharanga, the captain, the visiting team has batsmen who are capable of clinching the trophy while Nuwan Kulasekera leads the rookie bowling attack.
When the two teams locked horns in the first match of the competition, Sri Lanka won by eight wickets, and in the second dig, rain played spoilsport to end the match without a result.
There are a few grey clouds expected to hover over the Queen's Sports Club throughout Sunday too, but even if it does rain a bit, it is not expected to cut short the contest by much.
Teams (from):Zimbabwe: Graeme Cremer (capt), Hamilton Masakadza, Tarisai Musakanda, Malcolm Waller, Chamu Chibhabha, Peter Moor (wk), Elton Chigumbura, Sean Williams, Craig Ervine, Sikandar Raza, Donald Tiripano, Tendai Chisoro, Brian Chari, Carl Mumba, Christopher Mpofu, Tinashe Panyangara.
Sri Lanka: Dhananjaya de Silva, Kusal Perera, Niroshan Dickwella (wk), Upul Tharanga (capt), Kusal Mendis, Shehan Jayasuriya, Asela Gunaratne, Sachith Pathirana, Nuwan Kulasekara, Dasun Shanaka, Nuwan Pradeep, Lahiru Kumara, Suranga Lakmal, Lakshan Sandakan, Jeffery Vandersay.
