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Bad weather denied Zimbabwe the chance of a tough run-chase to get their ICC World Twenty20 campaign off on a positive note, as they lost to Sri Lanka by 14 runs on the Duckworth/Lewis method at the Providence Stadium in Guyana on Monday.

Sri Lanka had won the toss and batted first, scoring 173 for seven in 20 overs as Mahela Jayawardena took advantage of a couple of moments of poor fielding to score a scintillating 100 off 64 balls. Jayawardena opened the batting and drove Sri Lanka to 73 for one after eight overs. But with the run-rate threatening to get out of control, the spinners put the brakes on and ensured one of the tournament favourites did not get away from them in the second half of the innings.

Thissara Perera planted two sixes in the cow corner area but was then dismissed for 23, Elton Chigumbura taking a fine catch running around the boundary off Greg Lamb.

Thereafter, the spinners nipped all Jayawardena's partners in the bud.

Leg-spinner Graeme Cremer obtained some turn and bounce to dismiss Kumar Sangakkara for three and Ray Price deceived both Chamara Kapugedera (13) and Jayawardena with the last two balls of his bowling stint.

Price covered himself in glory with figures of two for 31 in four overs, while Prosper Utseya snared one for 32, Lamb two for 34 and Cremer one for 23 in three. A furious rain storm interrupted Zimbabwe's chase after just one over, with the score four without loss.

After the tropical weather had had its say, Zimbabwe returned with a Duckworth/Lewis revised target of 105 in 11 overs.

Tatenda Taibu and Hamilton Masakadza went about building the platform for a late five-over flurry, wickets in hand being one of the keys to success in this format.

Taibu's strength lies in his speed between the wickets and improvisation, but this was a weakness on this occasion as the wicketkeeper squeezed a ball from Lasith Malinga to third man and came back for a second run that had Hamilton Masakadza in two minds, and eventually he was run out for four.

Both Taibu (12*) and Brendan Taylor (11*) looked in good touch, however, as they took Zimbabwe to 29 for one after five overs. Sri Lanka had just fitted in the minimum number of overs for a result when the Providence Stadium was inundated by another rain shower, with Zimbabwe short of the 44 runs they needed to score in five overs.

Full scorecard below the cut. Zimbabwe will now need to win against New Zealand in their final pool game in Guyana on Tuesday, and hope that they can close the net run rate gap by enough to edge past New Zealand.
Sri Lanka 173/7 (20/20 overs; Jayawardene 100, Price 2/31), Zimbabwe 29/1 (5/5 overs; Taibu 12*, Mendis 0/9). Sri Lanka win by 14 runs (D/L Method).
[Match report provided by ZC]

Sri Lanka innings (20 overs maximum)  	
                                        R  	B  	4s  	6s  	SR  	
DPM Jayawardene c Cremer b Price 	100 	64 	10 	4 	156.25 	
TM Dilshan 	c Mpofu b Chigumbura 	2 	4 	0 	0 	50.00 	
NLTC Perera 	c Chigumbura b Lamb 	23 	19 	1 	2 	121.05 	
KC Sangakkara*† c Price b Cremer 	3 	7 	0 	0 	42.85 	
LD Chandimal 	c Mpofu b Utseya 	9 	8 	0 	1 	112.50 	
AD Mathews 	c Ervine b Lamb 	4 	6 	0 	0 	66.66 	
CK Kapugedera 	c Masakadza b Price 	13 	6 	0 	2 	216.66 	
ST Jayasuriya 	not out 	        3 	3 	0 	0 	100.00 	
SL Malinga 	not out 	        2 	3 	0 	0 	66.66 	
	Extras 	(lb 5, w 9) 	        14 					
	Total 	(7 wickets; 20 overs) 	173 	(8.65 runs per over)

Did not bat: S Randiv, BAW Mendis

Fall of wickets: 1-24 (Dilshan, 2.1 ov), 2-80 (Perera, 8.4 ov), 3-96 (Sangakkara, 11.1 ov), 
4-113 (Chandimal, 12.6 ov), 5-138 (Mathews, 16.2 ov), 6-166 (Kapugedera, 18.5 ov), 
7-166 (Jayawardene, 18.6 ov)

Bowling 	O 	M 	R 	W 	Econ 		
CB Mpofu 	3 	0 	27 	0 	9.00 		
RW Price 	4 	0 	31 	2 	7.75 	(2w) 	
E Chigumbura 	2 	0 	21 	1 	10.50 		
GA Lamb 	4 	0 	34 	2 	8.50 		
P Utseya 	4 	0 	32 	1 	8.00 	(2w) 	
AG Cremer 	3 	0 	23 	1 	7.66 	(3w) 	


Zimbabwe innings (target: 44 runs from 5 overs) 	
                                                                R 	B 	4s 	6s 	SR 	
H Masakadza 	run out (Jayawardene/†Sangakkara/Malinga) 	4 	6 	0 	0 	66.66 	
T Taibu† 	not out 	                                12 	13 	0 	0 	92.30 	
BRM Taylor 	not out 	                                11 	11 	0 	0 	100.00 	
	Extras 	(w 2) 	                                        2 					
	Total 	(1 wicket; 5 overs) 	                        29 	(5.80 runs per over)

Did not bat: CR Ervine, E Chigumbura, CK Coventry, GA Lamb, AG Cremer, P Utseya*, RW Price, CB Mpofu

Fall of wickets: 1-10 (Masakadza, 1.5 ov)

Bowling 	O 	M 	R 	W 	Econ 		
BAW Mendis 	2 	0 	9 	0 	4.50 		
SL Malinga 	1 	0 	6 	0 	6.00 	(1w) 	
ST Jayasuriya 	1 	0 	8 	0 	8.00 		
S Randiv 	1 	0 	6 	0 	6.00