(Cricket news) The first ODI match in the Zimbabwe tour of Sri Lanka saw the hosts winning in a high scoring encounter. Zimbabwe are in a must win situation entering the second ODI today in the same pitch as Sri Lanka will look to continue their form from the earlier match.

Zimbabwe scored their fourth highest score against Sri Lanka in the first match when they piled up 296 on board. Sean Williams scored his 5th century and also bowled a tight spell as he was the most valuable player on the team. Regis Chakabva and Takudzwanashe Kaitano had a strong opening partnership with debutant Kaitano impressing on debut but only three batters managed to score more than 20 runs and stay for more than 25 balls. Captain Craig Ervine needs to get the runs for the team along with Sikandar Raza as their experience could not help the team in the batting front.

Among the bowlers, Richard Ngarava picked up three wickets but bowled 8 wides which was three more than the Lankan team put together. He picked up two important wickets, Dinesh Chandimal and Charith Asalanka in successive overs as both of them scored 70 plus runs. Wellington Masakadza only gave away 29 runs in his 6 overs and will be looking to bowl more overs in the upcoming match. Three bowlers bowled 9 overs and all of them were pacers as Sean bowled 8 overs while giving 43 runs. The bowlers were not expensive but the score was just not enough to restrict the Lankan batters, the men in red will need their batters to fire and will need to use their spinners more as they were more economical even though three of them together took one wicket.

The Sri Lankan side needs to strengthen their batting line up as only three batters scored more than 30. Dinesh Chandimal stood at the crease for some time as Pathum Nissanka gave the team a good start and Charith Asalanka added more fuel to the fire. The batters need to put up a collective effort as they turned out to be lucky in the previous match.
 

Maheesh Theekshana was the most effective bowler for the side as he only gave away 40 runs in his 10 overs and stopped the run flow. Chamika Karunaratne picked up three wickets including two in the last over and Jeffrey Vandersay dismissed the opening batters. Vandersay and Captain Dasun Shanaka could not control the run scoring much.

The hosts are the favorites to win the match as they have a well balanced team which can do even better. While Zimbabwe will need their batters to save them for losing the series, they know the pitch and now have to stay longer in the crease while giving more power to the spinners. 

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