Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka tussle for tri-series crown

In Zimbabwe's current climate, both cricketing and political, the national team's advancement to the tri-series final holds good value. Rare, one-off victories since as far back as the home series against New Zealand in the second half of 2015 have summed up Zimbabwe's steep decline in the 50-over format. That India sent a second-string side earlier this year and emerged far superior was a further indicator.

In that sense, holding on for a tie and beating West Indies, courtesy of Duckworth-Lewis-Stern method, has brought a welcome change to the mediocre narrative. There's a sense of pluckiness to the side, the urge to fight on till the very end, that has held them in good stead through the series. In both the 'positive' results, the team rallied around their bowlers, who did well under immense pressure. Fast bowler Donald Tiripano defended four in the final six balls in the tied game. In the victory, the bowlers first chipped in with valuable contributions with the bat, before doing just about enough when rain interrupted play.

The achievements of a depleted Sri Lanka, under Upul Tharanga, are also worthy of praise. A comprehensive win in the opening game gave them breathing space, and despite a morale-sapping defeat to West Indies in their second game, they find themselves in the title clash. Sri Lanka too benefitted from coming out on top in an edge-of-the-seat, high-scoring thriller against West Indies, after pacer Nuwan Pradeep defended nine of the last six balls with a slew of well-directed yorkers.

When: Zimbabwe vs Sri Lanka, tri-series final at 09:30 AM local time (13:00 IST)
Where: Queens Sports Club, Bulawayo
What to expect: A cloudy day with a maximum of 21 degrees is expected

Team News:

Both teams come into the final on the back of closely-contested victories and wouldn't be hard pressed to make changes to their personnel for the title clash.

Who said what:

"The last few weeks have been really good for us, and if we can continue that form, we can win the final. But, still, it is not going to be easy. We will have to do all the basic things quite correctly." - Sri Lanka captain Upul Tharanga.

"We are very confident, the guys are up for it, and we want to take the momentum from the West Indies game into the final." - Zimbabwe captain Graeme Cremer.

Did you know?

- The last time Zimbabwe featured in a final was in 2010, also against Sri Lanka. They have a win-loss record of 4-4 in tournament finals, all wins coming against either Kenya or Bermuda.

- The unbeaten stand of 91 against West Indies between Tendai Chisoro and Sikander Raza is the best ever for the ninth wicket for Zimbabwe in ODIs.

- Sri Lanka have won all their four ODIs against Zimbabwe at the Queen's Sports Club in Bulawayo.

Squads:

Zimbabwe: Brian Chari, Chamu Chibhabha, Craig Ervine, Sikandar Raza, Sean Williams, Peter Moor(w), Graeme Cremer(c), Elton Chigumbura, Donald Tiripano, Tendai Chisoro, Chris Mpofu, Tarisai Musakanda, Carl Mumba, Hamilton Masakadza, Tinashe Panyangara, Malcolm Waller

Sri Lanka: Dhananjaya de Silva, Kusal Perera, Kusal Mendis, Niroshan Dickwella(w), Upul Tharanga(c), Shehan Jayasuriya, Asela Gunaratne, Sachith Pathirana, Nuwan Kulasekara, Dasun Shanaka, Suranga Lakmal, Nuwan Pradeep, Lakshan Sandakan, Jeffrey Vandersay, Lahiru Kumara