Zimbabwe vs Sri Lanka, Tri-Nation Series 2016, 1st ODI at Harare: Tourist bundles out hosts for 154 in the series opener

Zimbabwe were bowled out for a puny total of 154 by Sri Lanka in the first ODI of the Tri-series as debutant Asela Gunaratne took 3 for 21

Sri Lanka bowled out hosts Zimbabwe for a puny total of 154 in just 41.3 overs of the first One-Day International (ODI) at the Harare Sports Club in the Tri-series played between Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka and West Indies. Winning the toss, Sri Lanka’s skipper Upul Tharanga opted to bowl first as the wicket seemed very much conducive to bowlers’ right from the first ball. The tourists bowling team justified their captain’s decision of bowling first as they kept on removing wickets at regular interval since the third over of the match. Asela Gunaratne, the debutant for Sri Lanka was the star amongst the bowlers for the tourists as he got 3 wickets for 21 runs in just 6.3 overs. FULL CRICKET SCORECARD: Zimbabwe vs Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe tri-nation series 2016-17, 1st ODI at Harare

Zimbabwe started off on a decent note with Brian Chari and Chamu Chibhabha were being watchful of the pace attack from Nuwan Kulasekara and Suranga Lakmal. But the persistence of the Sri Lankan bowling attack paid off soon as Lakmal first dismissed Chari when the hosts had put just 13 runs on the board. Before the hosts could manage to get away from this first shock, Lakmal dismissed Craig Ervine just 2 balls later to add more misery to the hosts. Sikandar Raza and Sean Williams too followed up soon and from 13 for no loss, the Zimbabwean innings was reduced to 50 runs for the loss of six wickets. LIVE UPDATES OF THE Zimbabwe vs Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe tri-nation series 2016-17, 1st ODI at Harare

It seemed like the hosts innings was going to crumble well before the three digit number on the scoreboard, but against the run of play, Peter Moor and Graeme Cremer stood strong for their team and made a 55 runs stand for the sixth wicket which ensured that they score the 100 run mark in their first ODI of the series. Moor was edging towards his half-century which would have been a very crucial knock for him on a personal level and also from the team’s perspective. He surpassed the 100 run mark as he slapped Kulasekara to a huge six on a short delivery, but the very next ball the same bowler trapped Moor in his pads to stop the 55 runs stand which the tourists wanted. Moor scored 47 runs from 55 balls which consisted of 1 boundary and 4 huge sixes. Donald Tiripano played some good shots in his innings of 19 runs and played as a good partner to Cremer which inched the hosts closer to 150 run mark.

Cremer remained not-out on 31 runs from 56 balls while Tiripano was the third best batsman as he scored 19 runs. Total 6 batsmen from the hosts failed to even score runs in two-digits and some decent bowling from Sri Lanka helped them to bundle out for just 150 + runs which given the way the Sri Lankan team is, looks like an easy target to chase.

While Asela Gunaratne took 3 wickets, Nuwan Kulasekara, Suranga Lakmal and Nuwan Pradeep took 2 wickets each and Sachith Pathirana took one wicket.

Brief Scores:

Zimbabwe 154 all out in 41.3 overs (Peter Moor 47, Graeme Cremer 31*; Asela Gunaratne 3 for 21) vs Sri Lanka