Zimbabwe’s captain Graeme Cremer was brilliant with the ball as he returned with a match haul of nine wickets. (Source: AP)
For most of the Test, Zimbabwe had Sri Lanka under pressure but the hosts fought back in the last two days to win the one-off Test in Colombo on Tuesday. Chasing a record 388-run target, Sri Lanka rode on a brilliant stand between Niroshan Dickwella and Asela Gunaratne to complete the highest run-chase in Asia and the fifth in the world. This was also the third instance that all four innings of a Test were between 300 and 400. Zimbabwe came close to pulling off a stunning win but were unable to capitalise on the little moments they got.
“Disappointing but credit to Sri Lanka, to chase 380 on a day-five pitch is pretty special,” said Zimbabwe captain Graeme Cremer at the post-match presentation.
“So credit to them, but credit to our guys as well. The way the guys fought and got the runs on the board and pushed Sri Lanka till the last day was great. We don’t play enough Test cricket, so it’s hard sometimes making decisions out there, but there is a lot to learn from this Test match. The one-day series is a high point for us, we brought that confidence into the Test match and it gave us the belief that we could push the big teams,” he added.
New Test skipper Dinesh Chandimal was happy to start his stint with a hard-fought win and lauded the players for sticking to the plans.
“It’s been a really good five days, so credit goes to all the players, they stuck to the plans and went there and did their best,”said Dinesh Chandimal.
The skipper reserved special praise for Dickwella and Gunaratne and felt they played “outstanding innings”.
“It’s always tough when you’re batting in the fourth innings but I told the team that they should play their normal game and they played some outstanding innings, especially Dickwella and Asela. Of course,it’s always challenging as a captain but it’s about doing the right things on and off the field,” he added.
Sri Lanka now host India in the upcoming Test series and Chandimal felt it will be a tough challenge for them.
“It (series against India) is obviously a tough challenge for us. As a team, everyone does their best, and I hope they will do the same against India.”
Rangana Herath again played a leading role in Sri Lanka win and was adjudged the Player of the series for his eleven-wicket haul. The left-arm spinner went past Malcolm Marshall and Ian Botham in the list of highest wicket-taker in Tests.
“I know I have bowled a lot of overs, but when you still enjoy playing cricket, I wouldn’t mind bowling more in future. Good to hear that I went past those guys. Overall, this Test match was very good. They were playing sweeps and reverse sweeps,which made it hard for us. But we played better than Zimbabwe, that is why we are here.”
