Janith Liyange revels in glory after playing decisive role in win over Zimbabwe during 2nd ODI
Janith Liyange (Source-Twitter)
After a disastrous showing in the ODI World Cup 2023, Sri Lankan is looking to bounce back. After the World Cup, the Sri Lankan board was suspended by the Apex Cricket Council. Young Janith Liyange became the hero for his side as Sri Lanka beat Zimbabwe in the second ODI on Monday.
The rain-affected game in Colombo saw Sri Lanka scamper home to a 2-wicket win. Rain had played spoilsport in the first game as well and the match ended without a result. After the game, Janith Liyange was over the moon with the result.
After the final ODI on Thursday, the series moves into the T20I mode with Colombo hosting all the games. Zimbabwe aren’t part of the 2024 T20 World Cup while Sri Lanka are placed in Group D.
Janith Liyange turns match winner for Sri Lanka –
Sri Lanka registered a close two-wicket win over Zimbabwe on Monday. Janith Liyange scored 95 runs with the bat to be adjudged the Player of the Match. This was only the second game that Liyange was playing for his country.
During the post-match interaction, the 28-year-old said “More than the century, what I wanted was to get the team to victory. At that time, we were about five runs behind the DLS score. So I thought if I hit a six in that over, we’d be able to win even if the match stopped because of rain. All I thought of was winning the match, and I’m glad we were able to get there.”
With rain around the corner, Liyange and Sri Lanka found themselves in trouble in the 43rd over. Blessing Muzarabani got the wicket of Liyange to bring the visitors back into the contest. Dushmanta Chameera and Jefferey Vandersay though got the team over the line with an over to spare.
Despite the hiccup, Janith Liyange seemed relieved as the win was achieved. “When Maheesh and I were batting, they [Zimbabwe] were bowling their best bowlers, and they only had a few overs left, our plan was to get two or three runs an over off their best bowlers, then take the game into the last five or six overs, and score our runs there”
Batting first Zimbabwe was bowled out for 208 in the 45th with Maheesh Theekshana picking 4/31. Skipper Craig Ervine was the top scorer with 82 runs while Ryan Burl scored 31 runs.
In reply, Janith Liyange scored 95 runs from 127 balls with the hosts struggling at one stage at 90/5. The final ODI will be played on Thursday in Colombo as new skipper Kusal Mendis will hope to continue his good run.
