Zimbabwe's five most memorable ODI cricket moments

#3 ODI Series win against Sri Lanka in 2017

Zimbabwe upset Sri Lanka in the recently concluded ODI series between the two nations

Sri Lanka were ranked eighth in the ICC ODI rankings and the squad that faced Zimbabwe in the five-match ODI series in 2017 wasn’t their strongest. Their fielding efforts were even more pathetic. But all these facts cannot by any means undermine the historic ODI series win Zimbabwe registered against Sri Lanka.

The last five years arguably have been one of the darkest phases in Zimbabwe cricket. The administration, with each passing year, became worse, the players saw no future in cricket and were forced to look at other options, the fans had nothing to cheer about or look up to, and the list went on. All these factors indicated cricket in Zimbabwe was on its deathbed.

And suddenly Zimbabwe won the ODI series, their first overseas ODI series victory against a full member since 2001. The visitors began the series by chasing down a record score of 316 in the first match. Solomon Mire’s attacking 112 off 96 balls set the tone for the chase and Sikandar Raza (67 off 56 balls) along with Malcolm Waller (40 off 29 balls) completed the proceedings.

The hosts came back strongly by dominating Zimbabwe in the next two ODIs. However, in the fourth ODI, Zimbabwe kept their nerves in a rain-affected game and emerged victorious with the help of D/L method. In the decider match on a slow pitch, Masakadza blasted 73 runs off 86 balls to help his team chase 204 runs.

This series was a perfect team effort for the African nation as no batsman scored more than 300 runs and no bowler picked up more than six wickets in five matches. The victory might have revived cricket in Zimbabwe and brought back the excitement in the game.