Sri Lanka start campaign against Zimbabwe today

SBNCS hosts 100th ODI match

Sri Lanka will start the tri-nation series campaign today, taking on out-of-sort and jaded Zimbabwe at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium (SBNCS) which would reach the landmark of hosting 100th ODI match when the play starts at 12pm.

The Bangladesh’s home of cricket would touch the milestone in shortest time- a little over 11 years, compared to five other stadiums—Sharjah, Sydney, Melbourne, Harare Sports Club (Zimbabwe) and R Premadasa Stadium, Colombo—who had already reached the landmark.

However unluckily Bangladesh is not involved in the match in a historical occasion of this venue, a daunting fortress for them in which they have grand successes like beating New Zealand 4-0 in 2010, reaching the final of the 2012 Asia Cup, picking up ODI series wins over India, Pakistan and South Africa in 2015. Mirpur is the site of Test wins over England and Australia also.

But the overseas team which played here in the first ODI hosted by the stadium now returned here to play the venue’s 100th ODI. So in this sense Zimbabwe is lucky. The venue hosted its first ever ODI with match between Bangladesh and Zimbabwe in December 8, 2006.

“It is a great feeling to be part of a historic occasion. We played the first match here, so it is great to be part of history,” Zimbabwe batsman Hamilton Masakadza said.

But his side will be playing the venue’s 100th ODI at such a moment when they are not in good shape. They had tasted a humiliating eight-wicket defeat to Bangladesh with 129 balls to spare in the tournament opener and another defeat against Sri Lanka would rule out their chance to reach in the final.

But Masakadza is hopeful to get back into the contention by beating Sri Lanka.

“It is a different opposition tomorrow. We didn’t have a great start to the tournament. Obviously we are trying to bring back ourselves into contention.”

Sri Lanka on the other hand came off with a worst international year behind them in the history. Their captain Angelo Mathews now is determined to put 2017 behind them.

“It is a new year as well. We would like to put 2017 behind and start all over again,” Mathews said.

“Zimbabwe played well in Sri Lanka. They are a good team. All their players have come back to play for their country, so they are now even stronger. It is going to be a challenge, but we look forward to it.”

“We just have to go tomorrow and start really well. You can’t be complacent in international cricket. They can be a very dangerous team as well. We don’t want to take things for granted even though they lost to Bangladesh yesterday. We want to start off strong.”

Sri Lanka start campaign against Zimbabwe today

SBNCS hosts 100th ODI match

Sri Lanka will start the tri-nation series campaign today, taking on out-of-sort and jaded Zimbabwe at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium (SBNCS) which would reach the landmark of hosting 100th ODI match when the play starts at 12pm. The Bangladeshs home of cricket would touch the milestone in shortest time- a little over 11 years, compared to five other stadiumsSharjah, Sydney, Melbourne, Harare Sports Club (Zimbabwe) and R Premadasa Stadium, Colombowho had already reached the landmark. However unluckily Bangladesh is not involved in the match in a historical occasion of this venue, a daunting fortress for them in which they have grand successes like beating New Zealand 4-0 in 2010, reaching the final of the 2012 Asia Cup, picking up ODI series wins over India, Pakistan and South Africa in 2015. Mirpur is the site of Test wins over England and Australia also. But the overseas team which played here in the first ODI hosted by the stadium now returned here to play the venues 100th ODI. So in this sense Zimbabwe is lucky. The venue hosted its first ever ODI with match between Bangladesh and Zimbabwe in December 8, 2006. It is a great feeling to be part of a historic occasion. We played the first match here, so it is great to be part of history, Zimbabwe batsman Hamilton Masakadza said. But his side will be playing the venues 100th ODI at such a moment when they are not in good shape. They had tasted a humiliating eight-wicket defeat to Bangladesh with 129 balls to spare in the tournament opener and another defeat against Sri Lanka would rule out their chance to reach in the final. But Masakadza is hopeful to get back into the contention by beating Sri Lanka. It is a different opposition tomorrow. We didnt have a great start to the tournament. Obviously we are trying to bring back ourselves into contention. Sri Lanka on the other hand came off with a worst international year behind them in the history. Their captain Angelo Mathews now is determined to put 2017 behind them. It is a new year as well. We would like to put 2017 behind and start all over again, Mathews said. Zimbabwe played well in Sri Lanka. They are a good team. All their players have come back to play for their country, so they are now even stronger. It is going to be a challenge, but we look forward to it. We just have to go tomorrow and start really well. You cant be complacent in international cricket. They can be a very dangerous team as well. We dont want to take things for granted even though they lost to Bangladesh yesterday. We want to start off strong.