Zimbabwe amassed an impressive 352 runs in day 01 of the 2nd Test of the Sri Lanka tour of Zimbabwe, as their skipper Sean Williams guided his team brilliantly with an authoritative century to toil Sri Lankan bowlers at Harare Sports Club.
Williams won the toss and decided to bat first, where Sri Lanka made only one change to the playing XI as left-arm seamer Vishwa Fernando replaced Kasun Rajitha, who had quite an ordinary Test match last week.
Zimbabwe openers Prince Masvaure and Kevin Kasuza followed the same method that they stuck to in the 1st test, taking the extra precautionary approach. However, Lahiru Kumara, who bowled an exceptional spell in the first hour, managed to find an edge off Masvaure’s bat.
Soon after, the highest scorer for Zimbabwe in 1st Test, Craig Ervine was caught by Oshada Fernando at short leg off Dhananjaya de Silva’s bowling to reduce the hosts to 49/2. The next man in, Brendon Taylor, came out all guns blazing and hammered the spinners Dhananjaya de Silva and Lasith Embuldeniya to all parts to muster a swift run-a-ball 62, changing the complexion of the game completely.
Taylor was undone by a peach of a delivery by Suranga Lakmal, who castled him in front of wicket for LBW, but his innings set the tone for rest of the innings for Zimbabwe. Afterwards, Skipper Sean Williams and Sikandar Raza got together for 5th wickets in a partnership of 159 runs, dominating Sri Lanka’s bowling attack which looked toothless in front of Zimbabwean strokeplay.
Raza raced to a 99-ball 72 while Williams brought up his 2nd Test century, playing a true captain’s knock for his country. The pair was dismissed at the last hour of the day, trying to increase the already 4+ run rate.
The leader of Sri Lanka’s bowling unit, Suranga Lakmal, was the only one to show any control throughout thorugh as his 17 overs cost Sri Lanka only 31 runs, in return of 2 wickets.
Zimbabwe concluded the day strongly at 352/6 as wicket keeper batsman Regis Chakabwa saw through the home team safety without any more wickets. This is Zimbabwe’s highest total on the first day of a Test. Their previous best was 344 for 8, also against Sri Lanka in 2017.
Result
Match drawn
Sri Lanka
293/10 (119.5) & 204/3 (87)
Zimbabwe
406/10 (115.3) & 247/7 (75)
Batsmen
R
B
4s
6s
SR
Prince Masvaure
c Niroshan Dickwella b Lahiru Kumara
9
44
1
0
20.45
Kevin Kasuza
b Suranga Lakmal
38
97
4
0
39.18
Craig Ervine
c Oshada Fernando b Dhananjaya de Silva
12
11
1
1
109.09
Brendan Taylor
lbw b Suranga Lakmal
62
62
10
1
100.00
Sean Williams
b Dhananjaya de Silva
107
137
10
3
78.10
Sikandar Raza
c Angelo Mathews b Lasith Embuldeniya
72
99
4
2
72.73
Regis Chakabva
c Niroshan Dickwella b Lasith Embuldeniya
31
69
3
0
44.93
Tinotenda Mutombodzi
lbw b Dhananjaya de Silva
33
99
4
0
33.33
Donald Tiripano
c Suranga Lakmal b Lasith Embuldeniya
13
47
1
0
27.66
Carl Mumba
not out
11
19
2
0
57.89
Victor Nyauchi
c Dhananjaya de Silva b Lasith Embuldeniya
6
10
1
0
60.00
Extras
12 (b 8 , lb 3 , nb 1, w 0, pen 0)
Total
406/10 (115.3 Overs, RR: 3.52)
Fall of Wickets
1-21 (13.6) Prince Masvaure, 2-49 (19.4) Craig Ervine, 3-114 (32.6) Kevin Kasuza, 4-133 (36.5) Brendan Taylor, 5-292 (71.6) Sikandar Raza, 6-324 (78.5) Sean Williams, 7-362 (95.2) Regis Chakabva, 8-386 (110.1) Tinotenda Mutombodzi, 9-394 (111.6) Donald Tiripano, 10-406 (115.3) Victor Nyauchi,
