Zimbabwe survived a mighty scare towards the end of Sri Lanka's run chase but managed to pull off  a thriller to win by 12 runs in the second match of the tri-series at the Shere-Bangla national stadium at Mirpur. After Masakadza gave Zimbabwe a solid start, it was Sikandar Raza who made an aggressive 81* to add the finishing touches to the Zimbabwean innings as they ended up on an above-par 290.

The Sri Lankan run-chase started off on a positive note, as Kusal Perera got them off to a flyer. Mathews stabilized the innings after a few quick wickets, but his dismissal brought about a collapse. Thisara Perera gave the Zimbabweans a mighty scare but gifted his wicket to a full-toss, and Zimbabwe held their nerve in the end to do the formalities and clinch a nail-biter of a contest. 

Cremer, Zimbabwe captain: Couldn't have hoped for anything better with the bat. Hamilton(Masakadza) started off well. Sikanadar came to the party with the bat and ball as well. Shows the character of the team to come back from a loss and win a big game like this. We thought 260 would be a par score. But we got away in the end with 290. We still had to bowl well because we know the SL batsmen are quality players. Chatara and Muazarabani struggled last game and came back well today. We play SL again after this, and we'll take it one game at a time from hereon.

Angelo Mathews, Sri Lanka captain: We were scrappy from the outset and gave too many runs in the first ten overs. They capitalised with wickets in hand in the last ten overs. We had wickets in hand, and the run-rate was good. But we lost wickets regularly and that set us back. Thisara was fantastic with bat and ball. Kusal was fantastic too but the others failed to support them to finish it off. Asela was great and so were the Pereras, so there are a few positives we can take from this encounter and try to perform better in the next one against Bangladesh.

Zimbabwe  1st innings

 Hamilton Masakadza  c (Sub) b Asela Gunaratne               73

 Solomon Mire        c Kusal Mendis b Thisara Perera         34

 Craig Ervine        c Angelo Mathews b Suranga Lakmal        2

 Brendan Taylor      b Thisara Perera                        38

 Sikandar Raza       Not Out                                 81

 Malcolm Waller      c Upul Tharanga b Asela Gunaratne       29

 Peter Moor          c Akila Dananjaya b Asela Gunaratne     19

 Extras              0b 4lb 0nb 0pen 10w                     14

 Total               (50.0 overs)                         290-6

Fall of Wickets : 1-75 Mire, 2-85 Ervine, 3-142 Masakadza, 4-169 Taylor, 5-226 Waller, 6-287 Moor

Did Not Bat : Cremer, Jarvis, Chatara, Muzarabani

 Bowling              Ov  Md  Rn  Wk  Econ  Ex

 Suranga Lakmal       10   0  70   1  7.00  2w

 Akila Dananjaya      10   0  67   0  6.70

 Thisara Perera       10   0  43   2  4.30  2w

 Dushmantha Chameera  10   0  51   0  5.10  5w

 Wanindu Hasaranga     3   0  18   0  6.00

 Asela Gunaratne       7   0  37   3  5.29  1w

 Sri Lanka  1st innings

 Kusal Perera         c Blessing Muzarabani b Sikandar Raza           80

 Upul Tharanga        c Peter Moor b Kyle Jarvis                      11

 Kusal Mendis         c Graeme Cremer b Tendai Chatara                 0

 Angelo Mathews       c Sikandar Raza b Blessing Muzarabani           42

 Dinesh Chandimal     b Kyle Jarvis                                   34

 Asela Gunaratne      st Brendan Taylor b Graeme Cremer                4

 Thisara Perera       c Sikandar Raza b Tendai Chatara                64

 Wanindu Hasaranga    c Peter Moor b Graeme Cremer                    11

 Akila Dananjaya      c Graeme Cremer b Tendai Chatara                 8

 Suranga Lakmal       Not Out                                          5

 Dushmantha Chameera  c (Sub) b Tendai Chatara                         1

 Extras               4b 3lb 2nb 0pen 9w                              18

 Total                (48.1 overs)                           278 all out

Fall of Wickets : 1-46 Tharanga, 2-47 Mendis, 3-132 Perera, 4-157 Mathews, 5-181 Chandimal, 6-194 Gunaratne, 7-224 De Silva, 8-261 Perera, 9-275 Perera, 10-278 Chameera

 Bowling               Ov  Md  Rn  Wk  Econ  Ex

 Sikandar Raza         10   0  54   1  5.40  1w

 Kyle Jarvis            8   0  56   2  7.00

 Tendai Chatara       8.1   0  33   4  4.04  3w

 Blessing Muzarabani    9   0  47   1  5.22  1w 2nb

 Graeme Cremer         10   0  62   2  6.20  1w

 Malcolm Waller         3   0  19   0  6.33  2w

Half-centuries by Hamilton Masakadza and Sikandar Raza helped Zimbabwe set up a daunting target of 291 against Sri Lanka in the second match of the tri-series at Shere Bangla National Stadium in Dhaka.

After being put into bat Zimbabwean openers Masakadza and Solomon Mire started off brilliantly putting on 75 runs for the opening wicket before Thisara Perera had Mire caught by Kusal Mendis for 34 runs. Mire was soon followed by his replacement Craig Ervine when Angelo Mathews snapped a sharp reverse-cupped catch off Suranga Lakmal to put pressure on the Zimbabweans. But Mazakadza with a well compiled half century, 73 and Raza with an unbeaten 81 off just 67 balls saw, Zimbabwean reaching 290 for the loss of six wickets at the end of their innings. Raza was well supported by Brendon Taylor (38), M Waller (29) and PJ Moor (19). Asela Gunaratne and Thisara Perera were the pick of the Sri Lankan bowlers sharing five wickets between them.

Earlier Sri Lanka skipper Angelo Mathews won the toss and invited Zimbabwe to bat first in the second game of the tri-series cricket tournament at the Shere Bangla National Stadium in Dhaka. There was no place for Niroshan Dickwella in the playing side despite being a regular in the playing XI during the previous year. Dinesh Chandimal who has earned a place in the side will play the dual role of wicket-keeper batsman.

With Dickwella out Kusal Perera will open batting with Upul Tharanga. Wanindu Hasaranga and Akila Dananjaya are the main spinners, apart from three seamers. Zimbabwe have retained the same XI despite the defeat to Bangladesh. This will be Sri Lanka's first match of the year 2018 and will be the first for new head coach Chandika Hathurusingha who took over position mid-December last year.

Zimbabwe: 1 Hamilton Masakadza, 2 Solomon Mire, 3 PJ Moor (wk), 4 Brendan Taylor, 5 Craig Ervine, 6 Sikandar Raza, 7 Malcolm Waller, 8 Graeme Cremer (capt), 9 Kyle Jarvis, 10 Tendai Chatara, 11 Blessing Muzarabani

Sri Lanka: 1 Upul Tharanga, 2 Kusal Perera, 3 Dinesh Chandimal (wk), 4 Angelo Mathews (capt), 5 Kusal Mendis, 6 Asela Gunaratne, 7 Thisara Perera, 8 Akila Dananjaya, 9 Suranga Lakmal, 10 Wanindu Hasaranga, 11 Dushmantha Chameera.

Sri Lanka aim to start the year on a high

Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe will lock horns in the ongoing tri-series in Bangladesh at Shere Bangla National Stadium in Dhaka on Wednesday. The team from island nation is coming off a horrible year in the limited overs format and would want to start on a winning note. Zimbabwe, on the other hand, suffered a hammering at the hands of the home side Bangladesh the other day and would want to come to the terms of conditions soon. However, the battle would be interesting as the last series between the two sides was won by the team in red.

The heart-breaking memories of the bilateral series loss to Zimbabwe would be fresh in the minds of Sri Lanka. The debacle led to the resignation from their seniormost player Angelo Mathews from the captaincy. Here he is again, resuming the job after six months against the same team. He would love to give it back to Graeme Cremer and his men who humiliated them in their own den. Also, the team would like to welcome the new coach Chandika Hathurusingha with a victory.

Zimbabwe have already lost their first match and need to win this one to stay in contention for the finals. They would take heart from the fact that the recent records are in their favour. Though they will know that the wounded lions would come hard at them. Also, one would expect a more confident Zimbabwean unit to be on the park and they have the advantage of knowing the conditions having played a game recently.

Playing Combinations

Sri Lanka

Kusal Mendis is back in the mix for Sri Lanka and one would expect him to slot back into his number 3 position. The return of Dinesh Chandimal will also bolster the middle-order of the team. The onus at the top will be on Upul Tharanga and Danushka Gunathilaka after which Mendis and the skipper Mathews will follow. Chandimal should bat at 5 in this line-up with Asela Gunaratne, Niroshan Dickwella and Thisara Perera to follow. The vice-captain Suranga Lakmal will lead the bowling attack as Nuwan Pradeep will assist him with the new ball.

The spin bowling duties will be handled by Akila Dananjaya and Lakshan Sandakan as Wanidu Hasaranga is the other spinner in the squad.

Probable XI: Danushka Gunathilaka, Upul Tharanga, Kusal Mendis, Angelo Mathews(c), Dinesh Chandimal, Niroshan Dickwella(w), Asela Gunaratne, Thisara Perera, Suranga Lakmal, Akila Dananjaya, Lakshan Sandakan

Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe will guard against making a wholesale of changes only after the first game. Their batsmen are experienced enough to learn from their mistakes in the opening game. Soloman Mire will be confident of performing as he did well in the series against them in August last year. Brendan Taylor will be key once again to their fortunes as he will look to bat through. Sikandar Raza is another key player who tried his best against Bangladesh with both bat and ball.

The bowling attack will be led by Graeme Cremer along with Raza with the fast bowlers Kyle Jarvis and Blessing Muzarabani using the new ball.

Probable XI: Hamilton Masakadza, Solomon Mire, Craig Ervine, Brendan Taylor(w), Sikandar Raza, Malcolm Waller, Peter Moor, Graeme Cremer(c), Kyle Jarvis, Tendai Chatara, Blessing Muzarabani