ICC T20 2012 - 18th September- SL vs ZIM Match Analysis

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The result of the inaugural match of the T20 World Cup, 2012 between hosts Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe panned out just the way the majority of the cricketing fraternity and fans would have anticipated. It was a clear-cut victory for Sri Lanka, riding on a strong performance with both bat and ball. What they wouldn’t have expected though, was that Sri Lanka would steamroll, flatten and annihilate Zimbabwe to an 82-run loss. It was all one way traffic since the start of the match, apart from a phase of a couple of overs where the Zimbabwean bowlers took 2 wickets in rapid succession.

 The Lankans had got off to a fairly decent start with the openers putting up a partnership of 54 runs. Then came the fall of wickets of debutant Munaweera, Dilshan and Jayawardene in considerably quick time. It was up to veteran Sangakarra to anchor the innings and post a competitive total. What he needed was assistance which came in the form of all rounder Jeevan Mendis. It was a stroke of sheer brilliance to promote Jeevan up the order, ahead of the composed Angelo Matthews and hard hitting Thisara Perera. Whether it was a well thought move, or an intuition is something just the Sri Lankan camp knows. From here, it was just a story of an intelligent mix of aggressive and calm batting by the Lankan’s and patchy bowling and haywire fielding by the Zimbabwean team. All the bowlers apart from Graeme Cremer looked out of sorts. Mpofu was expensive, Vitori was inaccurate and the others were lackluster. Brendan Taylor, the captain had very few options as backup and it showed. 182/4 was what the Lankans managed in their 20 overs.

          

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Sri Lanka took the field; confidence high and with the belief that they could win the fixture with little difficulty. Zimbabwe got off to a pretty slow start, having difficulty in coping with the new ball. However, it was the introduction of Ajantha Mendis, having last played internationally in January, 2012 that started the real headache for the batting side. Though he may have been robbed of the title of the ‘Mystery Bowler’, he didn’t fail to bamboozle the batsmen with his spin. He picked up 2 wickets in his first over and eventually had figures of 6/8 in 4 overs with 2 maidens. This is also the record for the best figures in a T20I, having beaten his own figures of 6/16. There was little coming back from the collapse for Brendan Taylor’s side and they were bowled out for a measly 100 in just 17.3 overs.

          

In this group stage, even the slightest of slip-ups could prove dangerous. Zimbabwe have now virtually knocked themselves out of the tournament, and given Sri Lanka the leg-up into the next round. The field placements and bowling changes for Zimbabwe were predictable to say the least. What they should take from this game, is to employ the element of surprise, to improve their fielding and to play spin better. For Sri Lanka, it was a much happier tale. Their team looks well balanced, and all departments seem to be well oiled. All they have to do now, is maintain this form in the coming games. This performance of theirs clearly passes on the message that they are favourites not only because they are the host nation, but also because they are a strong and dominant team.

Scorecard
SL 182/4(20) | Zim 100/10(17.3)
Sri Lanka won by 82 runs

Star Performance of the Match
Ajantha Mendis - 6/8 in 4 overs with 2 maidens

Guest Post by - UmangMohnot