If you can remember,there was a time that we have, cricket has been abandoned.Some people and experts believed that we are nearly out from the cricket platform.Some people had stopped to watch the cricket matches.We also were disappointed in repeated circumstance.However this is a red letter day in  Srilankan cricket history.This is the time to Cheers for lions.

Niroshan Dickwella and Asela Gunaratne fashioned out a well deserving four-wicket win for Sri Lanka in the one-off Test against Zimbabwe as they chased down 388 in the fourth innings of Test on the fifth and final day at the R Premadasa Stadium yesterday.

Sri Lanka who resumed the final day at 170-3 and needing a further 218 to win finished on 391-6 with Gunaratne playing the role of sheet anchor despite being handicapped by a left hamstring injury (that prevented him from bowling in the Zimbabwe second innings) to remain not out on 80 scored off 151 balls with six fours.

Gunaratne figured in two crucial stands that took the game away from Zimbabwe after the visitors had reduced Sri Lanka to 203-5 within the first hour’s play by sending back the two overnight batsmen Kusal Mendis for 66 and former skipper Angelo Mathews for 25 – both falling to the leg-spin of Graeme Cremer.

At that stage Zimbabwe would have fancied their chances of running through the rest of the Lankan batting with Cremer getting the odd ball to spite and turn viciously whenever it hit the bowlers’ rough.

However Gunaratne joined Niroshan Dickwella in a partnership of match winning proportions adding 121 runs for the sixth wicket and after Dickwella’s departure for a well constructed 81 off 118 balls (6 fours), Dilruwan Perera (29 not out) made certain that Sri Lanka did not lose any more wickets by figuring in an unbroken stand of 67 with Gunaratne to seal the match in Sri Lanka’s favour.

It was the fifth highest successful run chase in Test history and the highest in Asia. In Sri Lanka it was the highest successful run chase after 377 by Pakistan at Pallekele in 2015 and 352 by Sri Lanka against South Africa at the P Sara Oval in 2006.

It was not an easy chase by any standards although Sri Lanka was playing the lowest ranked Test team in the world. Zimbabwe had till the final day kept their options open of pulling off a maiden Test win against Sri Lanka having shown great resolve and fight to take the game right into the final day – something that Zimbabwe sides had not done in the recent past.

Zimbabwe could consider themselves somewhat unlucky when a stumping chance against Dickwella when he was on 37 went against them. There will always be a debate on that decision. Chakabva, the wicket-keeper whipped the bails off when Dickwella missed a ball from Sikandar Raza.

The field umpires went upstairs and referred it to the third umpire Chettihody Shamshuddin of India who ruled it as not out after going through several replays. Dickwella’s foot to all appearances looked to be planted on the line and not behind it, in which instance he should have been given out.

To add to that disappointment Chikabva also spilt edges from Dickwella at 63 and from Perera at 13 both off the unfortunate Sean Williams who along with his captain Cremer send down a marathon 154.2 of the 217.2 overs bowled by Zimbabwe bowlers in the match.

One had to question the over reliance on the spinners by Cremer when he had two other specialist fast bowlers in the line-up. Donald Tiripano was never given a bowl in the second innings and Chris Mpofu sent down just six overs. Zimbabwe clearly showed their inexperience at this level not having the opportunity to play consistently and some of Cremer’s field placing was questionable.

Credit should be given to the curator of the R Premadasa Stadium Asanga Herath and his team for preparing a splendid pitch that produced some remarkable and challenging cricket throughout the five days. The pitch here is renowned for being a batsman’s paradise but on this occasion although each of the four innings produced totals of 300 plus it also gave a fair chance to the spinners with Rangana Herath bagging 11 wickets and Cremer nine. The R Premadasa Stadium is not renowned to host Test matches but in the nine they have it has produced the highest Test score of all time – 952-6 as well as the highest successful run chase in Asia – 388.

Gunaratne was named Man of the Match and surprisingly a Man of the Series was also presented when only a one-off Test was played. It was given to Rangana Herath.

The venue was the Galle International Stadium which was hosting its first ODI since 2000 and Zimbabwe made it a memorable one for them as they swept to an emphatic six wickets win with 14 balls to spare to go one-up in the five-match series yesterday.

Sikhander Raza rejoices a famous victory for Zimbabwe after making the winning hit – a six. AFP

Yesterday also happened to be chairman of selectors Sanath Jayasuriya’s 48th birthday and what an anti-climactic birthday present he received from the team he selected.

The foundation for Zimbabwe’s dramatic win was laid by opener Solomon Mire who scored his maiden ODI century and Sean Williams (65). They shared a record third wicket stand of 161 off 133 balls to set Zimbabwe on course for this famous win in their rather chequered history.

Although both batsmen were dismissed 11 balls of each other by the golden arm of Asela Gunaratne, Zimbabwe who bat deep till number 10 didn’t lose any more wickets as Sikhander Raza (67 n.o.) and Malcolm Waller (40 n.o.) carried them to a win with an unbroken partnership of 102 off 80 balls.

Overall it was Zimbabwe’s eighth win against Sri Lanka in 51 ODIs.

Sri Lanka had only themselves to blame for the defeat as they spilled as many three catches – a malady which they are finding pretty hard to get rid of.

Mire and Williams were both missed and how costly it proved as Sri Lanka was to realize when the partnership between the two grew into ominous proportions. Centurion Mire was dropped twice at 17 by wicket-keeper Niroshan Dickwella off Amila Aponso and at 94 by Lasith Malinga at deep fine leg off Gunaratne. Williams was put down on 13 by Danushka Gunathilaka at point off Lahiru Madushanka. Had those chances been accepted Sri Lanka would have romped home quite comfortably but it was not to be their day. The lapses on the field hurt Sri Lanka deeply as Zimbabwe made capital out of them.

It was not only their fielding that let Sri Lanka down but also their bowling which was rather sub standard the way they bowled for an international side.

The chances of a defeat wouldn’t have entered their minds when Sri Lanka ended their innings at 316-5 after electing to bat first.

Two youngsters Danushka Gunathilaka and Kusal Mendis laid the platform for that total with a 117-run stand. Both looked good to get hundreds but they perished playing some injudicious shots. Gunathilaka was out playing the reverse sweep and Mendis got a leading edge attempting to work the ball towards leg. Mendis made 86 off 80 balls and Gunathilaka 60 off 77. Mendis in the process became the second fastest Sri Lankan to reach 1000 runs in ODIs (28 innings) after Roy Dias (27 innings).

Upul Tharanga returning to the side after serving a two-match suspension for slow over rate held the innings for the rest of the overs to remain 79 not out forging two useful half-century partnerships with Angelo Mathews (49) and Gunaratne (28).

However all that effort was lost when Sri Lanka took the field for the Zimbabwe innings.

Mire was named Man of the Match.

The second ODI will be played at the same venue on Sunday.

Victory was made possible by aggressive batting, as promised by captain Angelo Mathews. The personnel who did that were Kusal Mendis (89) and Danushka Gunathilaka (76), who wasn’t even in the squad until an injury to Chamara Kapugedera on the eve of the game.

But it all changed quickly when when Gunathilaka pulled Umesh into the stands at the beginning of the eighth, signalling a shift in fortunes. Gunathilaka took charge with some glorious drives, particularly down the ground, while Mendis too started confidently, shifting the pressure on to India gradually.

But a good beginning is not even a job half done, as Sri Lanka found out the hard way against South Africa. The middle-overs batting was the most crucial phase of the chase, and how Sri Lanka handled Ravindra Jadeja was in particular important, given that it had crumbled against ’s leg-spin.

Mendis took that task upon himself and dismantled the left-arm spinner’s threat with smart batting. With only four fielders allowed inside the ring, Mendis targeted the mid-wicket boundary to perfection, getting past fifty with one such massive swipe into the crowd.

Jadeja conceded 36 from four overs, the partnership crossed 150, and India’s shoulders began to drop. It didn’t help that Rohit Sharma could not hold on to a very tough chance in the deep when Gunathilaka was on 70.

India’s desperation was evident when Kedhar Jadhav and Virat Kohli came on to bowl, but the breakthroughs came via run outs.

On the batting front, Kusal Mendis squandered his chance to complete a maiden double-hundred, Niroshan Dickwella cracked his way to 75, Tamim Iqbal hit a half-century before running himself out, and a charmed Soumya Sarkar saw out the day on 66 not out. Among the cricket’s redeeming features, meanwhile, has been Sri Lanka’s positive outlook at the crease (they scored their runs at 3.82 an over), and the emergence of first hints of big turn. If the Galle pitch continues to descend into its familiar cantankerous mood through the back end of this match, Bangladesh will have to bat very well.

For now, it is the batsmen’s turn to hog the limelight, and no one has done that better than Kusal Mendis so far. He began the day on 166, but found his morning defined by two attempted sixes. The first, off Subashis Roy in the 95th over, was a hook shot gone awry – the mis-hit caught by Mustafizur Rahman at fine leg. The fielder, though, misjudged the position of the boundary, and trod on the rope while competing the catch. The umpire raised his arms to signal a six. Not seeing Mustafizur’s mistake, the bowler raised his arms in celebration. Dickwella, the non-striker, also raised his arms to suggest to Subashis that the ball had been carried over the boundary. Everyone had their hands up, and for a second they were standing around looking like bank tellers during an armed robbery.

The second attempted six, however, would cost Mendis his wicket. He stepped down the pitch to Mehedi and sought to deposit him over long-on. He didn’t quite get to the pitch, however, and this time, the mis-hit was controlled by Tamim Iqbal, who kept the ball in play by throwing it in the air, while he himself momentarily stepped over the boundary. That stroke had been an attempt to get to his maiden double hundred with a six – a sign that for all Mendis’ seeming maturity at the crease, he is not immune to the impetuous flashes of youth. He was out for 194.

While Bangladesh’s bowlers failed to muster the discipline they had managed in the first half of the first day, Mendis’ partner, Dickwella, was typically lively at the crease, launching the second ball he faced on the day over the leg side for six, and at times employing the reverse sweep that has recently served him well in the shortest format. He played the ramp stroke over the slips to hit the second of his successive boundaries off Taskin Ahmed in the 97th over, and brought up his second Test half century soon after, off the 52nd ball he faced. Mehedi eventually had him top-edging an attempted swipe over the leg side to dismiss him for 75. Dilruwan Perera then hit a brisk half century – largely in the company of the tail – to help propel Sri Lanka to the brink of 500.

Tamim and Soumya would go on to register Bangladesh’s first opening century stand in almost two years, but their progress was not always smooth. Soumya should have been out for 4 in the third over, had his outside edge been snared by Perera at gully off the bowling of Suranga Lakmal. Perera then became the bowler to have Tamim Iqbal dropped – on 28 – when wicketkeeper Dickwella failed to cling on to a thick outside edge.

Apart from those two errors, the openers were otherwise assured. They would often stride down the crease to knock the spinners down the ground, or launch them over the infield. Against the quicks, who were used in short spells, they rarely ventured a loose shot – Soumya lifting Lahiru Kumara languidly over the slips at one point.

It was only once both batsmen had almost reached fifty that Sandakan was brought into the attack. He began to cause problems almost immediately, regularly beating the bat and drawing inside-edges. For the first time in the Test, there seemed to be some turn in the surface. He can claim some credit in the dismissal of Tamim, though on the score sheet it went down as a run-out. A stock ball clipped Tamim’s pad en route to the keeper – it perhaps collected some part of the bat as well – and though Dickwella took the ball cleanly, Tamim believed the ball to have dribbled away towards fine leg, and took off for a run. The wicketkeeper only had to take the bails off.

Bangladesh will be disappointed that Mominul Haque got himself trapped in front only a few overs before stumps were drawn, but nevertheless, may feel they have plenty of batting left.

Thanks largely to Mendis’ monumental innings supported by half-centuries from Niroshan Dickwella and Dilruwan Perera, Sri Lanka reached a total of 494, although they would have been far happier if they had crossed the 500-run mark.

Niroshan Dickwella pulls a delivery to the leg boundary during his innings of 75.

Ironically it was the two half-centurions who were responsible for giving the Bangladesh openers early lives that enabled them to finish the day at 133 for two wickets – still 361 runs behind.

Perera put down a simple catch at gully offered by Soumya Sarkar at four and Dickwella missed Tamim Iqbal behind the wicket at 28. Those two lapses enabled the openers to put up a century partnership before Tamim threw away his wicket attempting an impossible single and getting run out for 57.

Sri Lanka soon followed with the wicket of Mominul Haque for seven when Perera compensated for his early lapse with a wicket by trapping him plumb in front.

Sarkar however lived to fight another day finishing on 66 not out with his skipper Mushfiqur Rahim on one.

The pitch had slowed down from what it was on the first day and the key to today will be the left-arm chinaman deliveries of Lakshan Sandakan who really made the Bangladesh batsmen jump around in the final session’s play.

Mendis’s extravagance cost him a maiden Test double century when he attempted to reach it with a six and eventually holed out to long-on. The catch was held on the boundary line by Tamim Iqbal giving Mehedi Hasan his second wicket of the innings.

The 19-year-old off-spinning sensation who bowled Bangladesh to their maiden Test win over England at Dhaka last October finished as the best Bangladesh bowler with four wickets for 113.

Dickwella batted aggressively for his second Test fifty scoring 75 off 76 balls with six fours and a six and Perera followed with his third Test half century (51) off 77 balls with seven fours and a six.

Dickwella helped Mendis add 110 for the fifth wicket before the latter’s dismissal for 194 scored off 225 balls with 19 fours and four sixes.

Mendis is the sixth Sri Lankan batsman to be dismissed in the 190s after Sidath Wettimuny, Sanath Jayasuriya, Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene and Tillakaratne Dilshan.

GALLE: When Kusal Mendis inside edged a catch behind the wicket off the first ball he received and was given a reprieve by the head umpire who ruled that delivery a no-ball as the bowler Subash Roy had overstepped the crease he would have known that Lady Luck was certainly on his side.
Kusal Mendis celebrates his century on the first day of the first Test against Bangladesh at the Galle International Stadium yesterday. (Pix by Saman Mendis)

Following that awful first shot he played that nearly cost him his wicket Mendis from there onwards hardly put a foot wrong as he made his way towards his second Test century in 15 matches to put Sri Lanka in a much firmer footing than they were at one stage at the end of the first day of the first Test against Bangladesh played at the Galle International Stadium yesterday.

It was Mendis’ brilliant knock of 176 that paved the way for Sri Lanka’s 3-0 sweep of Australia in their last home series in July 2015, and it has taken him another seven months to notch up his second hundred at the highest level.

The way he is going he is certain to end up with another big score which could be the decisive factor in determining which way the series would go. Mendis was unbeaten on 166 at stumps having batted for 362 minutes and hit 18 fours and two sixes in his 242-ball innings with Niroshan Dickwella on 14.

At 149 Mendis passed 1000 Test runs – the 31st Sri Lankan player to do so and with Gunaratne, he shared a new fourth wicket partnership of 196 off 261 balls against Bangladesh erasing the previous highest of 150 by Kumar Sangakkara and Aravinda de Silva at the P Sara Oval in 2002.

Mendis of whom everyone expects big things was all class as he settled down to play some glorious pulls, drives and sweeps, mainly on the leg side where he collected 99 of his 166 runs.

Gunaratne continued his golden run with the bat and was unfortunate to be dismissed for 85 when he dragged a wide ball that could have been left alone onto his stumps. He had seven fours in his 134-ball knock of 85.

Mendis and Gunaratne raised the batting tempo during their partnership after Sri Lanka had scored only 61 runs in the first session of play so that by the day’s end the total had exceeded 300.

The final session of play produced 166 runs as the Lankan batsmen made capital out of the tired Bangladesh bowlers on a very hot day that saw the support staff bring out a giant umbrella to provide shade to the players during the drinks breaks.

The two batsmen Sri Lanka were banking on to score heavily Dimuth Karunaratne and Dinesh Chandimal both failed. Karunaratne coming to this Test on the back of a double century scored against England Lions in the unofficial test at Dambulla made 30 before chopping the ball onto his stumps.

Chandimal having scored an unbeaten 190 against this bowling attack for Sri Lanka President’s XI in the two-day warm-up match was strangely subdued scratching around 54 balls for five before dot balls brought about his downfall got the better of him and his expansive drive ended up in gully’s hands.

Upul Tharanga never looked a Test opener with his poor technique and it was no surprise when he was beaten all ends up by a delivery from Subash Roy that ripped through his defence and shattered his stumps in the sixth over of the day.

Sri Lanka strengthened their bowling attack for this Test going in with five specialist bowlers that included three spinners for the expense of a batsman Dhananjaya de Silva. Bangladesh also opted for five specialist bowlers but included three seamers instead.

Bangladesh has won just three of its 45 away matches — two against West Indies in 2009 and one against Zimbabwe in 2013 — but has shown considerable improvement since its last victory overseas.

In its own backyard, Bangladesh has won four Tests, drawn five and conceded only three defeats since 2014. It showed impressive recent form against New Zealand and then India in away matches despite losing in both countries.

Sri Lanka has a solid record at home and blanked Australia 3-0 in the last series it hosted, in August 2016. But Bangladesh will be buoyed by the return of Mustafizur Rahman, the left-arm paceman who has not played a Test since his debut series against South Africa in 2015.

Mustafizur, 21, had undergone a shoulder surgery in August last year, after picking up an injury while playing for Sussex. He was selected for the New Zealand tour in December-January, and played four limited-overs matches before being ruled out of the two Tests that followed due to a hamstring injury.

Sri Lanka has won each of its last five Tests on home soil and will be captained by Rangana Herath, its experienced left-arm spinner who replaced Angelo Mathews.

The Sri Lankan cricket board did not say why Mathews was dropped, but he returned home last month midway through the South African tour after twisting his ankle.

The second Test in Colombo from March 15 will be Bangladesh’s 100th since it gained full status nearly 17 years ago.

The teams are also scheduled to play three One-Day Internationals before facing off in two Twenty20 Internationals to wind down the tour on April 6.

Teams (from):

Sri Lanka: Rangana Herath (capt), Dimuth Karunaratne, Niroshan Dickwella, Upul Tharanga, Dhananjaya de Silva, Kusal Mendis, Asela Gunaratne, Dinesh Chandimal (wk), Suranga Lakmal, Lahiru Kumara, Nuwan Pradeep, Vikum Sanjaya Bandara, Dilruwan Perera, Lakshan Sandakan, Malinda Pushpakumara.

Bangladesh: Mushfiqur Rahim (capt, wk), Tamim Iqbal, Liton Das, Soumya Sarkar, Mominul Haque, Shakib Al Hasan, Mahmudullah Riyad, Sabbir Rahman, Mustafizur Rahman, Taijul Islam, Mehedi Hasan, Taskin Ahmed, Mosaddek Hossain, Kamrul Islam Rabbi, Subashis Roy, Rubel H

One of them the key figure Chandika Hathurusingha is a former Sri Lanka cricketer and a former Sri Lanka ‘A’ team as well as senior team coach who is now the head coach of the Bangladesh side. His presence gives him access to the players, conditions and pitches that Sri Lanka will come up with against Bangladesh on the tour which could be a vital factor in determining the series.

Stand-in captain Rangana Herath well aware what is in store for them said, “Bangladesh have some advantage as they know our conditions and our players and all that. But this is a new game and at the end of the day it’s the team that plays well that wins.

They have some advantage no doubt. But as I said you have to play well. If you don’t play well you are not going to win. We have prepared as well as we could. I am sure they too have done the same.”

Having vital information of the opposition is nearly half the battle won and Bangladesh cricket which is on a high at the moment having beaten England in a Test match at home for the first time will fancy their chances against a Sri Lankan side that is still finding its feet at the moment with

an unsettled batting line up where the players are unaware of their positions going from one series to another.

For instance the openers slot sees a change from the last home series against Australia that Sri Lanka won so convincingly. There is no Kaushal Silva and his regular opening partner Dimuth Karunaratne saved his Test place with a double century in the second unofficial test against England Lions at Dambulla last month. Karunaratne will have another left-hander Upul Tharanga as his partner for this series.

In the 25 Test appearances Tharanga has made since making his debut 12 years ago, Bangladesh is one country that he has scored a Test century against – the other being against Zimbabwe. Tharanga has not opened in a Test since August 2015 against India at the SSC when he was dismissed for 4 and 5.

The no. 3 slot has become an enigma for Sri Lanka and Herath who will captain Sri Lanka in the two Tests in the absence of regular skipper Angelo Mathews (injured) said, “Maybe Kusal (Mendis). We haven’t decided on much.

We will wait for tomorrow morning to take a final call.”

Since making his Test debut against West Indies in October 2015, Mendis has batted from positions 2 to 5. Of the four occasions he has gone past the fifty mark three times he has batted at number four and that includes the series turning century of 176 against Australia.

Herath also stated that Dinesh Chandimal who has been the designated wicket-keeper in 24 of the 34 Tests he has played so far has been relieved from that position which will now be taken by Niroshan Dickwella who has kept wickets in three of the four Tests he has played.

That move is certainly not going to be a permanent one for according to Herath, “Whether we are going to stick with Chandi as wicketkeeper or move on with Niroshan needs to be spoken of. I need to talk to the selectors.”

Herath said the thinking behind the change of wicket-keeper is to give Chandimal who is expected to bat at number four more freedom to concentrate on his batting especially with Mathews being unavailable. The Lankan vice-captain came out of a lean patch with a stunning knock of 190 not out for Sri Lanka President’s XI against Bangladesh in the two-day warm-up match at Moratuwa.

Bangladesh is an opponent Chandimal has been prolific against scoring three of his seven Test hundreds including an unbeaten 116 at Galle in 2013 when Bangladesh last played here.

“Good to see guys like Dimuth and Chandi back in form. They have scored some big runs in the last couple of weeks and that’s important for the team,” said Herath.

“I am very happy leading the team into this Test series. The Bangladesh series is going to be tough. The guys I am sure are looking forward to do their best. I have lot of confidence in my team. We have been doing our training very well. We are confident.”

Even the position of Dhananajaya de Silva batting at number six is yet undecided.

“He has been batting at number six and we need to chat to the selectors and sort out where he needs to play. Dhananjaya most probably will bat below Chandimal at number six,” said Herath.

In that event the Lankan batting will read as: Karunaratne, Tharanga, Mendis, Chandimal, Gunaratne, De Silva and Dickwella, Herath will head the bowling along with Suranga Lakmal and Lahiru Kumara for pace, but the second spinner will be a toss-up between Lakshan Sandakan and Dilruwan Perera.