Image Credit- AP
Luke Jongwe, an all-rounder for Zimbabwe, had an
Angelo Mathews wallpaper when he was younger; it was unclear if this was a real
poster or the background screen on a device. For a period, Jongwe’s social
media profile image was Mathews as well.
How did Jongwe express his gratitude to Mathews for
the years of inspiration, then? In Mathews’s comeback series, of course, he
hammered him for six, four, six in the final over of a Twenty20 international.
Following a string of boundaries, Zimbabwe’s hopes of winning were reduced from
extremely slim—20 needed off the final over—to practically certain, now only
needing three off four (Jongwe’s hero had also bowled him a no-ball).
“Over the past few months I’ve been in situations
where I could have won games for my country, and even for my franchise back
home, and I couldn’t do it,” Jongwe said after the game. “I got
close, but couldn’t cross the line. Doing it against Sri Lanka, considering
Angelo was one of my role models growing up, is even better. That’s special.
“He used to be my wallpaper when I was a kid. He
was still using Gray-Nicolls gear at that time. I was still a youngster. On
Facebook at one point he was my profile picture. There’s too much happening for
me today. There are a lot of emotions. I’m just grateful to God.”
Before the game concluded, Jongwe was also removed
from the game by Mathews’ bowl, and Zimbabwe won with the penultimate ball.
Zimbabwe’s first victory of the tour came in this close finish.
At the wicket, Jongwe had waited patiently for an
all-rounder who he knew Sri Lanka had to come through. After reaching the
crease in the seventeenth over, he hit one four off his opening seven balls.
But he knew there would be easier runs to come later, with just two overs
remaining for the front-line bowlers.
“I knew they needed one over from someone,
because Chameera was done and Madushanka was done. I told myself I wasn’t going
to take a risk against them, and wait until the last over, and give myself the
best chance.
“I think 20 runs was a lot to be honest. The
wicket got better to bat on – Sri Lanka had been 25 for 4, and we were looking
to restrict them to 140. But when we bowled in the death – I bowled in the
death as well – we talked afterwards and thought that something had changed in
the wicket. The ball was starting to come on to the bat nicely. We knew we just
need to keep wickets intact and build partnerships to try and get our team over
the line.”