Zimbabwe all-rounder Luke Jongwe opened up about his match-winning performance against Sri Lanka in the second T20I. He said it was a special feat for him as he achieved it against his role model Angelo Mathews.
Luke Jongwa was the shining light for Zimbabwe in the second T20I against Sri Lanka at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo. In the chase of, 174 runs, Zimbabwe were down and dusted as they lost wickets in quick succession after a fierce start, thanks to Craig Ervine (70).
Sri Lanka looked clear favorites to win the game as Zimbabwe needed 30 runs off the last two overs. Things got more in their favor after Dilshan Madushanka gave only 10 runs in the penultimate over. With 20 runs needed in the last over and all the big names in the hut, no one gave visitors a chance to win.
However, Luke Jongwe stood tall for his team and made sure that he made everyone remember his name. Angelo Mathews bowled a no-ball on the first delivery and the batter slammed it for a six and then followed it up with a boundary on a free hit.
Luke Jongwe then almost sealed the game for his team when he hit six on the next delivery as well. In the end, Clive Madane landed the final blow and sealed the game for his team. But all the credit went to Jongwe with the way he took veteran Mathews to cleaners.
While talking about his performance, Luke Jongwe revealed that Angelo Mathews is his childhood hero and used to be on his phone’s wallpaper. He added that he went through a lot of emotions after his heroics. Speaking during the press conference, he stated:
“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.”
SL vs ZIM: Wait until the last over – Luke Jongwe on his plans
Luke Jongwe further opened up about his plans for the chase. He said that he was aware of the fact that Sri Lanka needed one over from a non-regular bowler and he needed to stay calm. He explained:
“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.”
The series between Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe stays leveled at 1-1 with both the teams winning one each. The stage is now set for the series decider third T20I, which will take place on 18th January. Both the teams would be eager to put in a good performance and clinch the series.
