Zimbabwe vs Sri Lanka, Tri-Series Final, Preview and Predictions: Evenly poised game on the cards

Both teams have the equal chance of winning the final as Sri Lanka have a great side but the hosts have learned to use the home conditions perfectly.

Zimbabwe will lock horns with Sri Lanka for the one last time in the final of the tri-nation series at the Queens Sports Club, Bulawayo on Saturday. Zimbabwe sneaked into the finals after their victory over the misfiring West Indies  at the same venue on Friday. The hosts looked out of touch in the initial stage of the game but bounced back well with the help of Sikandar Raza and No. 9 batsman Tendai Chisoro, who was also adjudged man of the Match for his brilliant performance with both bat and ball as they posted a target of 219. Live Scorecard, Zimbabwe vs Sri Lanka, Tri-Series Final at Bulawayo

They continued their good form with ball in the second innings and reduced the West Indian side to 124 for the loss of 5 wickets, which was later interrupted by persistent rainfall. This is where the fortunes turned and favoured the hosts and the match was eventually called off resulting in Zimbabwe storming into the finals as they had restricted the Caribbean side 5 runs short of Duckworth-Lewis method.

Sri Lanka too registered their final qualification against West Indies as they won a nail-biter by a run. Sri Lanka had asked West Indies to chase a target of 331, riding on wicketkeeper-batsman Niroshan Dickwella and Kusal Mendis’ knock of 94 runs respectively. West Indies at one point were out of the chase but a blistering knock of 148 runs by Evin Lewis took the match to a close nail-biting finish, which they subsequently lost by a run.

On paper, Sri Lanka look the stronger side, but the way Zimbabwe have played in this series, they also have equal chances of winning it. The newly found hero in Chisoro should again come in handy in the final as it is again been played at the same ground where they defeated West Indies.

The hosts have used the home conditions aptly in the 50-over game and they should go all guns blazing against the young Sri Lankan side. Zimbabwe need to be more consistent with their batting as that has been the main reason for their early debacles, while their bowling has been decent otherwise. A win in the final will definitely give a tremendous boost to the Zimbabwean cricket and that is what they need at  this point of time.

Upul Tharanga, the captain for Sri Lanka in this tri-series will be hoping to make this series count in his personal record. This is the first time he is captaining Sri Lanka and he would be expecting the youngsters to perform to their best and clinch the series.

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