Chevrons for Sri Lanka tour
DESPITE facing suspension from the International Cricket Council (ICC), Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) will continue playing the international game and kick off their 2024 season with a home series against Zimbabwe.
In their Future Tour Programme for next year, SLC have confirmed they will host Zimbabwe for a white-ball series in January to kickstart the new year. This will be the Chevrons’ first visit to the Asian nation in over two years, having last toured it in January 2022.
In their last visit to Sri Lanka, they played three One-Day Internationals (ODIs). The hosts won the series 2-1.
In the upcoming series, they are set to play three T20 Internationals and as many ODIs.
However, commencement dates are yet to be announced.
“We are heading into a highly exciting year with a lot of international cricket to be played, which augurs well for us, as our team will be engaged in competitive cricket year-round,” said SLC chief executive officer Ashley de Silva in a statement.
“The 2024 calendar is expected to give our players a lot of playing opportunities, fans entertainment and our sponsors’ great exposure.”
The tour is likely to also be Zimbabwe’s first for 2024. The Chevrons will be looking at starting the year on a high note by causing an upset.
Apart from bilateral cricket, Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka last played together in white-ball cricket in July in the 2023 World Cup Qualifiers, where the Lions prevailed after a dominant performance.
They convincingly won the match by nine wickets in front of a sold-out Queens Sports Club. Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka have played each other 61 times in ODIs, and the latter enjoy a better win ratio.
From those 61 matches, the Lions have won 47 games, with the Chevrons being victorious on 12 occasions.
Two of the matches have had no results. Sri Lanka will also be favourites going into the series, as they have won 12 times at home, while losing on three occasions.
The Lions enjoy a 77,04 win percentage over the Chevrons. In T20s, Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe have only faced each other three times, with the Asians winning all of the games, thus enjoying a 100 percent win ratio over their opponents in the shorter version of the game.
The upcoming series promises to be a great time for cricket enthusiasts, both in Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka.