Cremer fails but lifts Zimbabwe

During the first four days at Galle, Graeme Cremer did everything he could to put his team ahead of the hosts. He claimed a five-wicket haul in the first innings with sharp and probing leg-spin and then batted with steel like grit to push their second-innings total.

He made 48 runs in the second innings and importantly stood tall till the end allowing the tail enders to drag the lead and frustrate Sri Lanka a little more. He was strategically better than his counterpart and led his team with the same valour as a captain of the number one Test team would have.

With the ball in the second innings, he wrecked the Sri Lankan top order after the hosts had begun their record chase on a positive note. His three wickets on the fourth day kept the game in the balance.

And when he arrived for the fifth day at Galle, it was evident that Zimbabwe’s lone chance of breaking through Sri Lanka’s resistance was in Cremer’s bowling. His leg-spin was their key to win. And the Zimbabwe captain didn’t disappoint.

In the sixth over of the fifth day, Cremer forced Mendis to make an error and his sweep ended as a top edge that was caught at mid-on. The settled Mendis was out of the equation now. Only six wickets separated Zimbabwe from a historic victory.

Cremer though didn’t focus on the result. He focused on the process and kept bowling with consistency and venom. And he was rewarded.

After playing out tough deliveries for an hour, Mathews was relieved to see a fuller and not-so- dangerous ball. But the Sri Lankan's relief gave away to complacency and he lost his focus. The simple full delivery was hit back straight to Cremer.

The wicket Zimbabwe was eying since the morning, the wicket of Mathews. With Mathews back in the pavilion, it was Zimbabwe’s game now.

But just when the visitors gained complete control over the match, the partnership between Dickwella and Gunaratne happened.

Partnership between Gunaratne and Dickwella salvaged the Test for Sri Lanka

The duo started slow and eventually gained control. The steady rise of this pair confronted Zimbabwe. They panicked and made mistakes. Cremer, the captain was caught off guard.

He swapped his bowlers, changed fields but nothing worked. In between, a genuine edge went through the vacant slip region, a top-edge landed where there was no fielder and the third-umpire saw Dickwella’s foot behind the crease when the entire world failed to see anything. All this frustrated Zimbabwe and they lost their grip on the match.

The post-lunch session began with an intriguing battle between the bat and the ball. The Sri-Lankan pair deliberately tried to unsettle the bowlers by playing unconventional strokes. There were sweeps, reverse sweeps and also the traditional cuts and pulls. However, the visitors kept on hitting the right spots making things tough for the batsmen.

The tension reached its peak and it was Dickwella who blinked first. Trying to flick the ball on the front foot, he edged Williams. Chakabva, donning the wicket-keeping gloves missed the chance as the ball touched his gloves and his helmet before falling safely on the ground.

In Williams’ next over, Gunaratne’s miscued pull landed just ahead of the diving deep-midwicket fielder. In 14 balls Zimbabwe missed two chances. One easy and one difficult but both pushed them further away from the game.

The runs kept on flowing and as Cremer brought himself back into the attack. Suddenly Williams found the luck. Chakabva finally managed to hold on to the catch and Dickwella was back in the pavilion. The doors were once again open for the visitors.

However, with the game reaching its climax, the Zimbabwe skipper made crucial mistakes. The nerves got the better of him and his missed his mark. He dripped away from the leg-stump then bowled a short-delivery. Sri Lanka kept on pushing the visitors forcing them to commit errors.

As the distance between Sri Lanka and victory reduced to only 12 runs, Cremer became desperate and used both his reviews in one over. On the second delivery, he challenged Ian Gould’s decision but the ball had no contact with the bat and was missing the stumps by a massive margin.

One ball later, he once again reviewed Gould’s decision that denied Zimbabwe a leg before wicket. Forget the impact or the possibility of an edge, the replays confirmed that the ball had pitched outside leg-stump.

The reviews were Cremer’s last hope of saving this battle. With the loss of the reviews, the Zimbabwe captain surrendered all his weapons. His bowling was already neutralised by the hosts and his captaincy too looked incapable of preventing Sri Lanka from chasing the target.

In the end, Cremer and Zimbabwe were defeated

Cremer ended the innings with four wickets in 48 overs. The economy of 3.12 and strike rate of 72 is by no means impressive on a fifth-day sub-continent pitch but for Zimbabwe, it was an effort that is worth remembering because it was the effort that allowed them to stay positive and fight.

Sri Lanka won the game by chasing a record total. Cremer may have lost the match but he will take pride in the fact that he made Sri Lanka chase a record total and he ensured it wasn’t an easy chase.