Bennett, Raza power Zimbabwe to 6-wicket win over Sri Lanka

Brian Bennett’s measured fifty and Sikandar Raza’s raw power propelled Zimbabwe to a facile six-wicket win over a fancied Sri Lanka as the Africans entered the Super Eights of the T20 World Cup with a clean slate on Thursday. Chasing 179 on a rather sluggish surface, Zimbabwe needed pragmatism and force in equal measure, and those elements were offered to them by Bennett (63 not out, 48 balls) and Raza (45, 26b) respectively.  Zimbabwe scaled down the target in 19.3 overs.

Both teams have already entered the Super Eights from Group B, and the African outfit can be proud of their show in the group phase, as they also had defeated Australia in an earlier match. The African side started quite well, reaching 55 for no loss in the Power Play segment, thanks to openers Bennett and Tadi Marumani (34, 26b). In all, they added 69 runs for the first wicket in 8.3 overs before Marumani fell to Dunith Wellalage, offering the left-arm spinner a return catch.

Ryan Burl ensured that Zimbabwe did not lose the initial momentum, making a quick 12-23, and the highlight was a massive 103-metre six off Wellalage over long-on. Burl perished to a slower bouncer by pacer Dasun Shanaka, but the arrival of Raza changed the complexion of the match. Bennett reached his fifty in 41 balls, but Zimbabwe needed some muscle in their chase. Raza pummelled pacer Dilshan Madushanka for two sixes in a row, followed by a four in the 15th over to give his side some steam.

The skipper, who suffered cramps in the later part of his innings, then clouted a six and four off spinner Maheesh Theekshana in the 16th over as Zimbabwe brought down the asking rate to 6.5. Raza was ousted by Dushan Hemantha in the 19th over, and they lost Tashinga Musekiwa two balls later, leaving the visitors to score 8 off the last over. But a huge pulled six by Tony Munyonga off Theekshana erased all the worries in the Zimbabwe camp. Earlier, SL batters struggled against Zimbabwe spinners in the middle overs on a slow pitch but reached a par 178 for seven.

Opting to bat first, Sri Lanka got off to a reasonable start with openers Kusal Perera (22) and Pathum Nissanka (62) adding 54 runs in 4.5 overs. The left-handed Perera did not look comfortable but found a couple of boundaries off pacer Blessing Muzarabani. But he fell to the towering pacer soon. Perera could not impart placement to his pull shot off a Muzarabani bouncer, getting caught by Graeme Cremer at short fine leg. Muzarabani was also quite impressive on the day, tucking the ball into the pitch to take the pace off to keep the batters waiting.

The Lankans still ended the power play at a satisfactory 61 for 1, but found the scoring tough in the subsequent phase. Zimbabwe spinners - Raza, Cremer, Burl and Wellington Masakadza - did not give any wriggle room for the home batters, as the next four overs produced just 21 runs. They also lost the slow-moving Kusal Mendis (14, 20b) during this time.

In between, Nissanka, fresh from his unbeaten 100 against Australia in the previous match, completed his fifty in 34 balls. The tiny right-hander judged the pace of the pitch beautifully and focused on taking quick singles and doubles and only freed his arms at the most opportune moment.

But eventually, Nissanka also fell to the slowness of the track, a reverse sweep off Cremer ending in the hands of Tony Munyonga. The talented Pavan Rathnayake (44, 25b) creamed Brad Evans for 4, 6, and 4 in the 19th over to push SL past the 150-run mark before perishing in the same over. The last two overs produced 30 runs.