Mendis solid, SL need 218 on final day
Graeme Cremer stuck himself into Sri Lanka's flesh on the fourth day, first making a stubborn 48 from No. 9, then claiming two wickets, as Zimbabwe dismissed three Sri Lankan batsmen in their defense of 388
Graeme Cremer stuck himself into Sri Lanka's flesh on the fourth day, first making a stubborn 48 from No. 9, then claiming two wickets, as Zimbabwe dismissed three Sri Lankan batsmen in their defense of 388
Commentator: Akshay Gopalakrishnan
Sri Lanka stand behind the Champions banner as well-deserved winners. They maintain their proud record at home, and what a start Dinesh Chandimal has had to his captaincy career. This has been a famous win for Sri Lanka. This Test will be spoken of for a long, long time. Sri Lanka will rejoice for now, but it will be back to work pretty soon with a tough series against India looming. This is all we have from here. The first of the Women's World Cup semifinals has just got underway, so do switch tabs to catch out coverage of that. From here, it's goodbye from myself and Deiva. Thank you for joining us!
mo: "Some grounds are just destined to be in the record books. Only 9 Tests played at the Premadasa yet the highest Test score of all time as well as the highest successful chase in Asia have been made here."
"It's been a really good five days, so credit goes to all the players, they stuck to the plans and went there and did their best,"says Dinesh Chandimal. "It's always tough when you're batting in the fourth innings but I told the team that they should play their normal game and they played some outstanding innings, especially Dickwella and Asela. Of course,it's always challenging as a captain but it's about doing the right things on and off the field. It (series against India) is obviously a tough challenge for us. As a team, everyone does their best, and I hope they will do the same against India."
"Disappointing but credit to Sri Lanka, to chase 380 on a day-five pitch is pretty special," says Zimbabwe captain Graeme Cremer. "So credit to them, but credit to our guys as well. The way the guys fought and got the runs on the board and pushed Sri Lanka till he last day was great. We don't play enough Test cricket, so it'shard sometimes making decisions out there, but there is a lot to learn from this Test match. The one-day series is a high point for us, we brought that confidence into the Test match and it gave us the belief that we could push the big teams."
Rangana Herath is the Player of the series. "I know I have bowled a lot of overs, but when you still enjoy playing cricket, I wouldn't mind bowling more in future," he says. "Good to hear that I went past those guys. Overall, this Test match was very good. They were playing sweeps and reverse sweeps,which made it hard for us. But we played better than Zimbabwe, that is why we are here."
Asela Gunaratne is the Player of the Match. Asela Gunaratne says he is extremely happy with the way he played, despite not being fully fit.
This is only third time in Tests that all four innings have been between 300 and 400.
Perera raises his arms and punches the air. Handshakes from both sides. Spare a thought for Zimbabwe. They stayed in this until the very end. They began the year with defeats to Scotland and Afghanistan, but they have plenty to be proud of after this tour. Won the ODI series, nearly pulled off their first Test against Sri Lanka. Zimbabwe are gathered into a huddle. They deserve a word of appreciation for the fight they have shown. Cremer finally puts on a feeble smile as shakes the hand of the opposition captain. He bowled his heart out. For 48 overs, he gave it his all, but Zimbabwe faltered towards the very end, fluffing a few chances. Regis Chakabva had a torrid day behind the stumps but he will come out of this with a world of experience. Questions will be asked of that decision from C Shamshuddin that enabled Dickwella to survive. From there, Sri Lanka never looked back, and pulled off the highest successful chase in Sri Lanka, and the fifth-highest of all time. Stay tuned, we will bring the presentations to you shortly.
Samraat: "Series started with highest ODI chase in SL and Now ended with highest successful chase in Test in SL.Perfect !!!!!!!!!"
Ananda: "Sri Lanka deserved to win and they did. Very few people gave them a chance. Beating this Zimbabwe team is no easy task. They are no pushovers. Well done Zimbabwe too. Hope you get more test matches against top sides. "
Thinus: "I would rather vote for Raza as the MOM. That second innings recovery was amazing!"
Uday: "Wish there was another Test match between these two teams - one off Tests should be scrapped."
ZCFOutkast: "No disrespect to Herath and Cremer, but Craig Ervine must be THE Man of the Match. Without him there wouldn't have been much of a MATCH."
Sri Lanka one hit away from a historic win.
Asela Gunaratne was the go-to man on Tuesday - for Niroshan Dickwella, with whom he put on 121, and for captain Dinesh Chandimal
Stats highlights from the one-off Test between Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe in Colombo, where the hosts chased down 388
Rangana Herath was just named Man of the Series for a one-match series, but that's not the strangest match award that's been handed out
In the wake of Zimbabwe's defeat to Sri Lanka, after being in control for the best part of five days, we look at other instances where underdogs have fumbled positions of strength
Zimbabwe's captain said the team had chinks to work out - particularly with their bowling - and hoped this performance would get them the regular cricket needed for that