Cricketers of the week: 10th July – 16th July

#4 Craig Ervine

Craig Ervine

In the only Test between Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka, in Colombo, at the Premadasa Stadium, Ervine did amazingly well for an away batsman. Walking in at number four, Ervine scored an impressive 160, an innings that formed the bedrock of a good score for the visitors.

Zimbabwe managed 356 batting first after Ervine took them from 38 for 3 and 70 for 4 to safety, adding 84 with Sikandar Raza and then 65 for the seventh wicket with Malcolm Waller before impressing again with a 74-run stand with Donald Tiripano.

In reply, Sri Lanka started solidly but lost their way to give Zimbabwe a 10-run lead. Zimbabwe then were tottering at 23 for 4 and 59 for 5, before Sikandar Raza added 86 for the sixth wicket with Peter Moor and an unbeaten 107 with Waller at the time of writing to give the Africans a healthy 262-run lead.