On February 19 at Colombo’s R. Premadasa Stadium, the sound arrived before the cricket. Bands filled the upper tiers of the R Premadasa Stadium long before the first ball. Trumpets clashed with drums. Rhythm refused the order. It felt less like a match and more like a carnival that never paused for breath.
For Zimbabwe, it was not just another group game. It was an examination of nerves. Noise ruled the night, and survival depended on learning how to live inside it.
Learning to Speak Through the Noise
The sound presented a new competitor for Tadiwanashe Marumani. The act of communication turned into a chore; words would often disappear before they were spoken. Batting partners often had to walk down the pitch and use hand signals just to communicate. It was an exciting and yet unnerving experience; he later described it as exciting but nerve-wracking, adding that India would be “twice as loud”.
This perspective helped define the evening. Zimbabwe were not simply pursuing runs; they were also absorbing the surrounding environment and having to be able to think while the rest of the world refused to stop.
The Middle-Overs Squeeze
Sri Lanka started the match by playing with urgency. The Sri Lankans used the PowerPlay to great effect. The trumpets were in tune with the boundaries; it looked like a match that had been scripted before the game started in yellow and blue.
However, Zimbabwe changed the tempo of the game, with Sri Lanka scoring just 61 runs between overs 7 and 15.
The shift came through spin, with Sikandar Raza and Ryan Burl tightening the middle overs. Raza later said wrist spin was getting more purchase than finger spin, a reading that shaped Zimbabwe’s middle-overs squeeze. The boundaries dried up during the middle phase, and Zimbabwe took control of the game and strangled Sri Lanka in their middle phase.
Ryan Burl then produced a key moment, deceiving Kusal Mendis in flight, and Marumani completed a sharp stumping. The dismissal reflected Zimbabwe’s sharp fielding, with very few chances going down this tournament.
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A Chase Built on Composure
Zimbabwe’s chase wasn’t glamorous, but it was controlled, highlighted by 79 for 2 between overs 7 and 15. They got runs in quick bursts instead of in large amounts. Raza got runs fairly quickly, which helped quicken the pace of play. His eventual 45 anchored the chase and quietly shifted the momentum.
It was not always executed perfectly on the field. After the game, assistant coach Dion Ebrahim called it “scrappy”. Also, the momentum of the game changed multiple times, and at the end of the game, Sri Lanka was once again in the lead. The belief in what each team could accomplish continued to be challenged during each stretch of play.
That was the value of the win, however. It was not due to perfection but rather to being resilient.
From Setback to Surge
Two years ago Zimbabwe lost to Uganda, which meant they didn’t qualify. The team has been making small steps of progress since that time. The gap between wins has been very small, but the confidence levels of the players have increased. Now the team is starting to get results on the field after some really close wins. They finished on top of a group with Australia and Sri Lanka, and they recently beat Australia in a dominant fashion and put up a very good chase in their game versus Sri Lanka.
At the toss for the Sri Lanka match, Raza spoke about habitually getting themselves into winning positions and being able to finish off games once they get themselves there. He also spoke about how many of the local Sri Lankan fans have become believers in Zimbabwe as a result of this continued success.
The Noise Ahead
Next to us is India in the Super 8s, where the fields will be larger, crowds will be bigger and the scrutiny even more intense. Ebrahim knows that this is the true test, particularly against the Indian national side, as the momentum can feel like a wave.
In Colombo, at least, they had a practice. Although Zimbabwe didn’t quite quieten down the noise, they still found a way to settle into it…they analysed the game, established control and crossed the line.
Australia wasn’t a ‘spike’. Colombo has confirmed that the team is learning how to not just compete but how to belong; if the noise goes up from here, Zimbabwe won’t be heard for the first time.
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