T20 World Cup: Sikandar Raza silences Colombo - Zimbabwe defeats Sri Lanka

Sikandar Raza, who stated that he would continue to chase victories after qualifying for the Super Eight stage, silenced the Colombo crowd by scoring a quick 45 runs off 26 balls, breaking Sri Lanka's unbeaten record. Although both teams had already qualified for the next round, this was an excellent opportunity for them to prepare for the upcoming matches.

Although Sri Lanka's total of 178 runs was thought to be sufficient given the nature of the Colombo pitch, Raza's batting completely turned the tide of the match in favor of Zimbabwe within five overs.

When Raza came to the crease, Zimbabwe was in a somewhat difficult position, having scored 98 runs for 2 wickets at the end of 12 overs. With 65 runs needed off 36 balls, he reduced the pressure of the match by hitting two sixes and a four in Dushan Hemantha's over. Following this, Raza also managed to launch a strong attack against Maheesh Theekshana and Dilshan Madushanka. Meanwhile, Brian Bennett provided excellent support, becoming the first Zimbabwean player to record two consecutive half-centuries in a T20 World Cup tournament.

Dunith Wellalage conceded only 6 runs in the 18th over. Then, at the start of the 19th over, Raza was dismissed by Hemantha, and Tashinga Musekiwa was also removed from the field due to a brilliant catch taken by Dasun Shanaka, who ran back about 25 meters. In the final over, with 8 runs needed for victory, Bennett secured the win with Tony Munyonga's six off Theekshana.

Winning the toss and batting first in this match, Pathum Nissanka provided a successful start for the Sri Lankan team. Of the 61 runs scored by Sri Lanka during the PowerPlay, 34 came from his bat. Although Kusal Perera was dismissed by Blessing Muzarabani in the 5th over, Nissanka completed his half-century in 35 balls. However, recognizing the support for spinners on the pitch, Raza used Wellington Masakadza, Graeme Cremer, and Ryan Burl to control the scoring rate, and at the end of 10 overs, Sri Lanka's scoreboard read 86 runs for one wicket.

Although Nissanka (62 runs) and Kusal Mendis took the team's score past the 100-run mark for the second wicket, Graeme Cremer (2 wickets for 27 runs) and Ryan Burl dismissed both of them in the 13th and 14th overs respectively. In the latter part of the innings, Pawan Rathnayake played a quickfire innings, scoring 44 runs off 25 balls with 3 fours and 2 sixes. Despite losing 4 wickets in the last 5 overs, Sri Lankan batsmen added 56 runs. Dunith Wellalage remained unbeaten with 15 runs off 8 balls, raising the team's total to 178 for 7 wickets at the end of 20 overs.

Highlighting Sri Lanka's PowerPlay bowling weaknesses once again, Zimbabwe's opening batsmen, Bennett and Tadiwanashe Marumani, got off to a successful start. They launched a strong attack on Theekshana and Shanaka, scoring 55 runs without losing any wickets in the first 6 overs. However, Wellalage managed to dismiss Marumani in the 9th over, and Ryan Burl, who came to the crease, was dismissed by Shanaka in the 12th over. Following this, with Raza's powerful batting, Bennett, who scored an unbeaten 63 runs, and Munyonga, who scored an unbeaten 8 runs, together secured a 6-wicket victory in this match, scoring 182 runs for only 4 wickets in 19.3 overs.