ZIM v SL, 1st Test Day 5 Review: Sri Lanka completes unlikely victory

Graeme Cremer fell on the final day of the first Test as Sri Lanka completed an unlikely win over Zimbabwe in the first Test of the series at the Harare Sports Club. The 225-run win marked the first win as captain as far as Rangana Herath was concerned especially given the fact that he is coming to somewhat of the close of his illustrious career.

The day began with the Sri Lankans decalring almost immediately after the start of play. Having been at 247/6 on the previous day, they declared barely a few short minutes after aimlessly facing the Zimbabwe pace attack on the final day. This meant that Graeme Cremer and his men would have to chase 411 to complete an unlikely win.

From the outset, it was clear that the Zimbabweans were in a fight for survival. There were a few inexperienced bowlers in the Lankan side, but, they had the fire to pick all 10 wickets on the day. Moreover, the fact that 411 has never been chased at the venue made it all the more elusive for the hosts.

Thus, the gameplan was simple – wait it out, defend, and perhaps hope for the best. The plan began rather well for openers Mawoyo and Brian Chari as they stood firm and held the fort strong. However, this soon became a problem when the spinners were introduced in the setup and the ball began to turn.

While the first 10 overs had seen the coaching staff of Heath Streak and Zulu Klusener allow themselves the odd smirk, the next few overs saw a drastic change in their expressions. Of course, they were laden with the goggles overlapping their eyes, but it would not have been rocket science to make out what was going on in their intermittent conversations.

The first to depart was Brian Chari when debutante Lahiru Kumara breached the unnerving opener’s defenses to find a way past the defense of Chari. As the clock at the Harare Sports Club began to wind down, it seemed as though Tino Mawoyo and Hamilton Masakadza were going to make it to a draw.

While the latter boasted of some experience with the bat, it was Mawoyo who was making waves as he did by shutting out the Lankans and making his stumps almost impregnable. This meant that the weak link as far as the opposition was concerned lay at the other end.

What also perhaps worked in the Lankan’s favor was the fact that they were laying siege to the rock solid fort of the host. This quite literally meant that each defensive shot played quite effectively resulted in an additional fielder surrounding the bat. A few deliveries of this ploy and Dilruwan Perera had trapped Mawoyo leg before. Perhaps, good riddance on the part of skipper Herath to keep him on.

Then, the Zimbabwean cookie began to crumble. Dilruwan Perera trapped a bamboozled Craig Ervine before Hamilton Masakadza’s defenses were also broken. This quite effectively brought the Lankans within sight of a win that looked unlikely from the outset on the previous day.

While Lakmal and Kumara ran riot, a brief resistance brewed with Sean Williams and skipper Graeme Cremer refusing to go down without a fight. The duo began to wield the bat hard and high at the Lankans as they resisted wave after wave of intermittent attacks from the opposition.

They were batting, quite literally, like there was no tomorrow. There was indeed no tomorrow as far as the Test match was concerned, but, the fact of the matter remained that these players were ensuring that a draw would prevail at the very least.

It took a herculean effort from the planning team and some uncanny bowling from Rangana Herath as he dismissed both batsmen for 40 and 43 respectively. The sun beat down upon Cremer’s face as Chris Mpofu fell, thus handing the win to the Lankans.

Perhaps the smile on Cremer summed up what the hosts had achieved in the encounter. Although they had lost the match, they had ensured that the match had gone on to the finals stages of the time duration whilst ensuring that they made a solid case for themselves in future ICC programs as well when it came to Test matches. Cremer walked away with the man of the match trophy, the hot Zimbabwean sun still soaking up most of his pride as he strolled away from the outset.

Brief Scores:

Sri Lanka, 1st innings: 537 all out

Zimbabwe, 1st innings: 373 all out

Sri Lanka, 2nd innings: 247/6

Zimbabwe, 2nd innings: 186 all out (G Cremer 43; D Perera 3/34)