The T20 series between Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka continues on Saturday when the tourists have the first of two chances this weekend to seal the series when the two sides meet for the second game of the three in Harare.
Zimbabwe will know that if they want to win the series then they will need to win this match to take it to a decider but realistically this is another opportunity to further prepare for the important cricket which is coming up for both sides.
Zimbabwe
Once again, much like they were in the ODI matches last month, Zimbabwe were very competitive in the opening T20 match but they couldn’t quite get the job done. That has been a familiar theme in the matches with Sri Lanka and it is something that is going to need to change if they are going to force a deciding match. You would have thought that it would be with the bat that Zimbabwe would struggle against Sri Lanka but that hasn’t been the case.
In both of the ODIs and the first T20, Zimbabwe posted more than competitive totals and from there you would have fancied them to nick a win from somewhere but that wasn’t how it panned out. That means the onus is on their bowlers to come up with the goods here, especially if they are given support by the batters. There is enough in their bowling unit to get the job but you wonder if they have lost a little bit of confidence after those first three games.
Sri Lanka
I would imagine that Sri Lanka will be very happy with how this tour has gone so far. Whether they are getting everything that they want out of it in terms of preparation for the Asia Cup only they will know but they still have a couple of matches for that if they haven’t yet found out all of the combinations that they would have wanted to go into that tournament with. It should be noted that a couple of key players aren’t here which hasn’t helped.
I think it is fair to say that the one thing that they will want to get out of these two matches is some confidence for their bowling unit. A couple of the bowlers that you would have thought that they could rely on have been expensive so it would be good to get some confidence into them. The positive is that their batters have gone well in conditions which aren’t automatically suited to them and that bodes well ahead of the Asia Cup.
Special Offer
Open a new Sporting Index account and bet £10 on the series (min odds 1/2) to get £20 in free bets (2x£10 free bets) to use on any sports market! Click the image below to take advantage of this great offer! 18+ T&Cs apply. Gamble Responsibly.
Team News
Tinotenda Maposa was a little expensive for Zimbabwe in the last game so his place in the side might be under threat. If a change is made then Wellington Masakadza or Tony Gwandu could be the player to come in.
There was no Matheesha Pathirana for Sri Lanka in the opening match of the series but you would imagine that they will rotate their bowlers to keep them fresh ahead of the Asia Cup so he could easily come into the side here.
Betting
Sikandar Raza is having a set of matches to remember against Sri Lanka and I’m happy to strike the Zimbabwe captain while the iron is hot so to speak. Since Sri Lanka arrived in Zimbabwe, Raza has scored 92 and 59* in the ODIs and 28 in the T20 match so that immediately makes me think that his performance line is within reach here. That line is 37.5 which he covered in the opening T20 courtesy of taking a wicket.
There was a game in Sri Lanka last year where Raza hit 62 with the bat and took three wickets in the same match so this is an opponent that he fares pretty well against. Nothing is going to change too much in terms of personnel so there is no reason why Raza can’t go well again, especially when we consider that this square is going to start tiring soon and when it does his spin bowling will be even more of a potent threat. I’ll play the over on the Raza performance.
Tips
Back S.Raza’s Performance – Over 37.5pts for a 3/10 stake at 1.83 with Bet365
