ZIM vs SL | Raza heroics take Zimbabwe to Super Eights unbeaten with win over hosts Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka won the toss at R Premadasa Stadium and chose to bat first in what was essentially a dead rubber with both teams already qualified to the Super Eight. Pathum Nissanka and Kusal Perera got the Lions off to a flying start, flaying 54 runs within the first five overs before the latter was scalped by Blessing Muzarabani for a 14-ball 22. It was just the breakthrough the visitors needed as Sikandar Raza and George Cremer used the slow surface to chokehold the scoring rate, with new batter Kusal Mendis struggling to get going. Nissanka tried to get the tempo back up with a couple of boundaries at the midway point of the innings to bring up a 35-ball half-century but it was only enough to stitch together a 46-run stand in 43 deliveries until Mendis departed for a 20-ball 14. Cremer got rid of Nissanka the very next over to take Zimbabwe into the ascendancy, their position further strengthened by the spinner scalping Kamindu Mendis in the 16th over. Pavan Rathnayake played savior once again as he exploded his way to 44 in just 25 balls while Dunith Wellalage struck three boundaries in the final over to take Sri Lanka to a competitive 178/7.

In response, Tadiwashe Marumani got the boundaries flowing early and Brian Bennett soon joined after a sluggish start to go through the powerplay without loss, racking up 55 runs in the process. The stand swelled to 69 before Wellalage struck three balls into his spell to send Marumani packing for 34 off 26. Nevertheless, Bennett kept ticking along, and at the halfway stage Zimbabwe required a daunting 101 runs in the final 10 overs. Ryan Burl realized the need to tee off and began by taking on Wellalage for a four and a six, only to depart the next over for a quick 12-ball 23. A couple of quiet overs meant the pressure was beginning to grow, until Raza broke free in the 15th over by slamming Dushantha Hemantha for back-to-back maximums. The skipper followed by taking Theekshana for 12 and by the time Bennett brought up a 42-ball half-century with a boundary, Zimbabwe needed 19 off 18. Hemantha introduced some jeopardy with two wickets in the penultiamte over but Munyonga calmed nerves with a six first ball of the 20th to leave just two required, and Bennett struck the winning boundary with three balls to spare to end unbeaten on 63.