A positive 62-run opening stand between Dimuth Karunaratne and Kaushal Silva fueled a solid start but a Hamilton Masakadza-inspired comeback brought hosts Zimbabwe right back into the game at lunch on Day 1 of the second Test at the Harare Sports Club.
Zimbabwe strike back through Masakadza after lacklustre first hour
Lured by a track with a greenish tinge, Zimbabwe captain Graeme Cremer had little hesitation in opting to put the visitors in to bat. "There is moisture underneath and the first hour will be crucial," he said at the toss. Only that the first hour ended up yielding no wickets at all.
The opening pair of Silva and Karunaratne got off to a rather confident start given the conditions on offer. Neither of them showed any hesitancy in going for the shots when the deliveries were pitched up and that led to a number of gorgeous drives through the covers and down the ground.
With the runs flowing at around five an over till the nine over mark, the pressure was piling on the bowlers to deliver on what was seen as a handy toss to win. That pressure compounded when Carl Mumba pulled up with a niggle after bowling just one over. However, the hosts were about to turn a corner.
In the first over after drinks from Masakadza, a lazy glide from Karunaratne found gully. Then an awfully mistimed heave from Kusal Perera lobbed straight into the hands of a deepish mid-on. During this time, even Mumba shrugged off his little niggle and took the field.
These couple of quick strikes boosted the hosts and immediately there was a spring in their steps. Mpofu came back and pinned Kaushal Silva with a nip-backer. By the time the right-handed opener decided to go for the review, it was deemed too late by the umpire. As fate would have it, the ball was sliding down leg.
All this while, Sri Lanka maintained their positive approach, setting up a cracking day's play.
Brief Scores: Sri Lanka 105/3 (Kaushal Silva 37, Dimuth Karaunaratne 26; Hamilton Masakadza 2-13) vs Zimbabwe
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