Charith Asalanka ton in vain after first ODI washed out
Zimbabwe tour of Sri Lanka 2024
Charith Asalanka smashed a lone innings to rescue Sri Lanka from what meant to be another horrible batting performance before rain interrupted and later called off in the first ODI between Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe in R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo on Saturday.
A new year-new hopes but for Sri Lanka batters it was the same old story where there poor batting display were once again witnessed with half of the top order batters departing cheaply.
Earlier after winning the toss and opting to bat first Sri Lanka were off to a horrible start when there opener Avishka Fernando who marked his return to international cricket after almost 1 year departed for a duck to put some early pressure.
Despite the early breakthrough skipper Kusal and Sadeera Samarawickrama added 63 runs for the second wicket to keep Sri Lanka ahead in the game. But the settled duo were dismissed after scoring 40-plus each as Sri Lanka failed to find stability in the middle overs.
A steady partnership between Mendis and debutant Janith Liyanage also strengthened Sri Lanka’s batting card but from there onwards it was the old ugly story for Sri Lanka batters as they were reduced from 4-125 to 6-208.
The likes of former skipper Dasun Shanaka (8), Sahan Arachige (10) struggled to make an impact which cost Sri Lanka to go big in the death overs.
However when the chips were down, the lone warrior Charith Asalanka’s performance, featuring nine boundaries, served as the backbone of the team’s innings. His third ODI hundred played a pivotal role in enabling Sri Lanka to post a formidable total by the end of their allotted overs.
Asalanka top-scored with 101 runs off 95 balls while Medis was the second-highest run-getter with 46 runs.
In reply, Sri Lanka were off to a flyer when Dilshan Madushanka ripped through Zimbabwe top order reduceing them to 2-12 in first 3 overs.
However unfortunately the match was halted after the fourth over of the Zimbabwe innings due to rain and subsequently called off with the vistors at 12 for 2.
Brief scores: Sri Lanka 273/9 in 50 overs (Charith Asalanka 101, Kusal Mendis 46; Richard Ngarava 2-39) vs Zimbabwe 12/2 in 4 overs (Dilshan Madushanka 2-0) – Match abandoned.
