Dhananjaya century leads Sri Lanka revival
Dhananjaya de Silva’s second century in his fifth Test outing revived Sri Lanka’s fortunes after Zimbabwe had made a promising start on day one in Harare.
With the hosts having lost the first Test by 225 runs, their bowling unit produced a menacing display to have Sri Lanka floundering on 112-4.
But the tourists dug deep and reached the close on 290-5, with Dhananjaya bringing up his landmark in the penultimate over of Sunday’s play.
The final session belonged almost entirely to Sri Lanka, who added 103 runs from 33 overs, with Heath Streak’s side managing only one wicket to stifle their charge.
The decision review system (DRS) was in place in Zimbabwe for the first time, although Upul Tharanga (79) was the only bastman to fall victim to it late in proceedings.
Despite a solid start taking them to 62 without loss, cracks began to show in the Sri Lanka batting line-up when Hamilton Masakadza (2-18) claimed the wickets of Dimuth Karunaratne (26) and Kusal Perera (4) in quick succession.
DRS looked set to be called into action in the 25th over when Kaushal Silva was given out lbw on 37, but the batsman’s call for a review came outside of the 15-second window.
Replays showed the umpire Simon Fry had made the wrong decision and when Kusal Mendis was sent back to the pavilion for 26, Zimbabwe had the upper hand.
But the match turned on Dhananjaya’s patient knock as he compiled a tidy, if unspectacular 100, which came off 197 balls and included 11 fours.
He will resume on Monday with Asela Gunaratne (13 not out) for company.
