'Hopefully we'll get more support back home' - Mire
The opener said his Man-of-the-Match effort was "very satisfying" and gave the team confidence that could hopefully rub off on their supporters as well
Sa'adi Thawfeeq
01-Jul-2017
'We knew that if someone batted a long time and made a hundred, it would put us in a good position to be able to chase' • AFP
After scoring his maiden ODI ton, a Man-of-the-Match effort in a record chase, Solomon Mire said he was hopeful the result would encourage more people in Zimbabwe to support the team.
"The win just allows [sic] hope for the fans and the people who are following the team. It allows them to stay in and stay involved. Hopefully we will get more support from our people back home and all round the world as well," said Mire.
"There is a bit more belief in the team. When we started today, at one stage we thought we would be chasing quite a big score - about 350. To be able to bring it back the way we did gave us a little bit of momentum going when we went to bat.
"We had the belief that if we batted for a long period we would be able to compete in the game, and winning really capped it off for us. It's such a huge thing for Zimbabwe cricket to be able to win against a top team like Sri Lanka," he said.
Mire, whose previous highest score in 17 ODIs was a 55-ball 54 against Afghanistan, described his 112 off 96 balls as 'very special'.
"It was a very satisfying, especially considering it was such a huge win for us. We have beaten Sri Lanka here for the first time so I am happy to contribute to the win. It was pretty tough and I was cramping up halfway through. I tried to keep re-hydrating, but it is something that takes a bit of time to get used to, the heat. Hopefully going forward we will be better prepared.
"We challenged ourselves. We knew that if someone batted a long time and made a hundred, it would put us in a good position to be able to chase. We have been trying to work something like that in the last few months and it was due.
"We needed someone to actually put his hand up and score some runs. Luckily, it worked for us today. Going forward the template we will be to try and bat as long as possible and the runs will come," he said.
Zimbabwe's intent to bat long was studded with runs that came behind the wicket against spinners, particularly through sweeps and reverse sweeps. The opener said it was a conscious effort.
"Coming into this series, we were sort of preparing to have those options [the sweep and reverse sweep] for us to use because we were thinking the wickets might be a bit challenging against spin. It worked today and is something that we would try and continue utilising."