Zimbabwe vs. Sri Lanka Final – A Preview
Who could have anticipated that Zimbabwe would be lining up against Sri Lanka in a Tri-Series final which also included India? Yes, fairytales do come true sometimes, and that is exactly what the scenario is for the home side; against all odds, Zimbabwe have shown that they have what it takes to take on formidable oppositions and match them move by move. Proving this, not only did they beat India twice and Sri Lanka once, they did so convincingly, which proves that it was all not a fluke and a lot of thought and planning went into the revolutionary cricket played by the Zimbabwean team.
The Zimbabwe team have been known to have the mettle since long, and have come close to many big wins in the years gone by. However, there was always this sense of being scared of victory; just the thought of beating a big team seemed to get the better of them on most occasions. This would happen especially when the African side were chasing a target in the past: they used to freeze at the wrong time, but the signs of all those nerves and middle order collapses were not on display in this tournament. The home side have looked like a whole different team; their positive attitude and self belief has looked to have totally transformed their unit.
This can be seen by their buoyant celebrations of late - the Bebeto-style cradle-the-child, Hamilton Masakadza's lifting his shirt to show 'just married' written on his t-shirt, and the choreographed dance between Chris Mpofu and Ray Price all showcase a satisfied team and a happy dressing room, and a happy team is always a winning team.
Now they stand just one win away from winning their first ever multination tournament involving test teams, and although it is a feel-good story, one cannot ignore the formidable Sri Lankan side. The former world champions, who although do not have their first 11 in the tournament, still have enough to topple Zimbabwe or any side on a given day, and have been by far the best team in the tournament so far.
Nuwan Kulasekara, who many believe is a hugely underrated fast bowler, will be back in the side, and if he gets a hint of assistance from the pitch he can move the ball like a banana, which can be a handful for the home side, while the wily Ajantha Mendis, who was also not part of the team which lost the last league match to Zimbabwe, will also be back. Quality spin is easily not Zimbabwe’s favourite type of bowling, and they are sure to find it hard to read the unorthodox finger spinner. Another man who is due to be back in the final is the ever-impressive Anjelo Mathews: the all rounder has come up leaps and bounce in recent times. Captain for the tour, Tillakaratne Dilshan, has also been in decent touch, and if he finds his footing, he may be hard to dislodge for the inexperienced seamers.
So far the tournament has seen a pattern of win the toss, bowl first, and win the match, as chasing has been quite easy. Even in the last match, even though Sri Lanka got off to a good start, the Zimbabwe spinners dragged them back in the middle, and once again chased down the target with ease.
Sri Lanka themselves were once tagged as minnows in cricket, but made their name in the 1996 cricket World Cup by suddenly rising to the top, and if Zimbabwe manage to win the final, we might yet again see another minnow making their way up the cricket ladder.
Tags: