Published: Jul 14, 2017, 03:00 PM (IST)
Edited: Jul 14, 2017, 03:19 PM (IST)
A single-handed effort from Zimbabwe‘s Craig Ervine took his side to 213 for 6 at tea against Sri Lanka on Day One of the Colombo Test. Zimbabwe, who elected to bat after winning the toss, lost 4 wickets as they went for lunch. Ervine, along with Sikandar Raza, revived the situation, putting up an 84-run partnership that took the team past 150. Raza, who was the Man of the Match for Zimbabwe’s historic victory in the fifth ODI, showed a similar temperament on Friday after Zimbabwe struggled losing the top-order early. As the teams took tea, Ervine remained unbeaten at 84 with Malcolm Waller at the other end for 13. Full cricket scorecard: Sri Lanka vs Zimbabwe – One-off Test
Earlier, Zimbabwe were off to a tumbling start courtesy Rangana Herath. The veteran spinner removed both openers Regis Chakabva (12) and Hamilton Masakadza (19) early to create pressure on the visitors early. Lahiru Kumara and Dilruwan Perera took cue from the senior man as they both got one wicket each and Zimbabwe were reduced to 70 for 4. Raza then partnered with Ervine to bring in stability to the innings. The two remained unbeaten at lunch and came back to put up the first partnership in excess of 50. They took the team’s score past 150 before Raza was dismissed for 36 by — Herath.
With Raza’s wicket, Herath completed 376 wickets in Tests, equating the numbers of Malcolm Marshall. This was also his 250th wicket at home.
Ervine kept fighting from there. He saw Peter Moor fall for 19 to Asela Gunaratne. Zimbabwe will now look up to Ervine to convert his 84 into a century and play a bigger knock with Waller also emulating such a feat.
For Sri Lanka, Herath remained at his usual best with 3 wickets after the end of the second session.
Brief scores:
Zimbabwe 213 for 6 (Craig Ervine 84*, Sean Williams 22, Sikandar Raza 36; Lahiru Kumara 1 for 43, Rangana Herath 3 for 57) against Sri Lanka.
