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Zimbabwe showed their best form last Friday in their triumph over India; on Tuesday they showed their worst side as they capitulated easily to Sri Lanka by nine wickets. The match was reduced to 26 overs a side after heavy early-morning rain delayed the start until one o’clock, but had no excuse for a poor batting and bowling display that handed the tourists the match with more than ten overs to spare.

It was considered quite a disadvantage to Zimbabwe to lose the toss in these circumstances, and be put in to bat. They soon lost Brendan Taylor, who tamely edged a ball to the keeper in the second over. First Greg Lamb (10) and Craig Ervine (7) gave Hamilton Masakadza useful support for a while until both got out with strokes of frustration; with good bowling and a heavy pitch, quick run-getting was not easy. After ten overs, the score was 61 for two.

Charles Coventry scored 11, including a trademark big six, but then skied a boundary catch, making Zimbabwe 83 for four. Then disaster struck, as five wickets were to fall for only nine runs, including those of the two big hitters, Elton Chigumbura and Andy Blignaut. Chigumbura pulled a long hop from Jeevan Mendis on to his stumps, while Blignaut edged a catch groping outside the off stump; both scored only a single.

Raymond Price at last showed some fighting spirit, keeping his end up while Masakadza carried on batting superbly. He went to his fifty off 51 balls, and the 100 came up after 21 overs. Masakadza was finally out in the penultimate over, caught on the boundary at cow corner. His 62 came off 69 balls, and he hit four fours and one six. Next ball the innings closed, as Price skied a ball into the covers and the difficult catch was dropped, only for Price to attempt a ridiculous second run and get run out.

Zimbabwe had contrived to get themselves all out for 118 with seven balls still in hand. Extras, with 13, was the second best scorer. The most successful bowler was Suraj Randiv, with three wickets during Zimbabwe’s middle-order collapse. Nobody doubted the likelihood of Sri Lanka polishing off the runs with little difficulty.

Chris Mpofu began with a maiden over, although there were four leg-byes. But his next over was poor, Upal Tharanga hitting short wide balls for three fours in the backward point region. Tillakaratne Dilshan soon got in on the act and the boundaries flowed; it looked a different pitch altogether to that Zimbabwe batted on. They made 86 in less than 11 overs before Tharanga (40) looked for a quick single in the covers, but was sent back and run out, thanks to some quick work from Prosper Utseya.

Chigumbura again had problems with his bowling, his first two balls being slashed by Dilshan through point for four. In the next over the Sri Lankan captain reached his fifty off 34 balls. Runs flowed, with both Chigumbura and Cremer spraying the ball all over the pitch, and when a wide from Mpofu ended the match, Dilshan was unbeaten with 60 off 45 balls, with seven fours and a six. Each team now has one victory in this tournament, but Zimbabwe, after their good start, are now the team under pressure. Full scorecard below the cut.
Zimbabwe 118 (24.5/26 overs; Masakadza 62, Randiv 3/23), Sri Lanka 119/1 (15.2/26 overs; Dilshan 60*, Price 0/14). Sri Lanka win by 9 wickets.
[Source: ZC]

Zimbabwe innings (26 overs maximum)  	
                                                        R  	M  	B  	4s  	6s  	SR
H Masakadza 	c Kulasekara b Fernando 	        62 	108 	69 	4 	1 	89.85
BRM Taylor† 	c †Chandimal b Fernando 	        2 	7 	5 	0 	0 	40.00
GA Lamb 	c BMAJ Mendis b BAW Mendis 	        10 	23 	19 	0 	0 	52.63
CR Ervine 	c Dilshan b BAW Mendis 	                7 	23 	20 	0 	0 	35.00
CK Coventry 	c Perera b Randiv 	                11 	12 	11 	0 	1 	100.00
E Chigumbura* 	b BMAJ Mendis 	                        1 	2 	2 	0 	0 	50.00
AM Blignaut 	c †Chandimal b Randiv 	                1 	3 	3 	0 	0 	33.33
AG Cremer 	b Randiv 	                        2 	2 	3 	0 	0 	66.66
P Utseya 	st †Chandimal b BMAJ Mendis 	        0 	2 	3 	0 	0 	0.00
RW Price 	run out (Perera/Fernando) 	        9 	29 	15 	0 	0 	60.00
CB Mpofu 	not out 	                        0 	2 	0 	0 	0 	-
	Extras 	(b 3, lb 5, w 4, nb 1) 	                13 					
	Total 	(all out; 24.5 overs; 111 mins) 	118 	(4.75 runs per over)

Fall of wickets: 1-4 (Taylor, 1.5 ov), 2-28 (Lamb, 6.3 ov), 3-64 (Ervine, 12.3 ov), 4-83 (Coventry, 15.5 ov), 
5-85 (Chigumbura, 16.3 ov), 6-86 (Blignaut, 17.1 ov), 7-90 (Cremer, 17.6 ov), 8-92 (Utseya, 18.5 ov), 
9-116 (Masakadza, 24.4 ov), 10-118 (Price, 24.5 ov)

Bowling 	O 	M 	R 	W 	Econ 		
KMDN Kulasekara 4 	0 	12 	0 	3.00 		
CRD Fernando 	4.5 	0 	26 	2 	5.37 	(1w) 	
BAW Mendis 	6 	0 	21 	2 	3.50 	(1nb, 1w) 	
NLTC Perera 	1 	0 	16 	0 	16.00 	(1w) 	
S Randiv 	5 	0 	23 	3 	4.60 		
BMAJ Mendis 	4 	0 	12 	2 	3.00 	(1w) 	


Sri Lanka innings (target: 119 runs from 26 overs) 	
                                                        R 	M 	B 	4s 	6s 	SR
WU Tharanga 	run out (†Taylor/Utseya) 	        40 	42 	37 	6 	0 	108.10
TM Dilshan* 	not out 	                        60 	64 	45 	7 	1 	133.33
LD Chandimal† 	not out 	                        10 	21 	10 	2 	0 	100.00
	Extras 	(lb 6, w 3) 	                        9 					
	Total 	(1 wicket; 15.2 overs; 64 mins) 	119 	(7.76 runs per over)

Did not bat: LPC Silva, CK Kapugedera, BAW Mendis, BMAJ Mendis, KMDN Kulasekara, S Randiv, NLTC Perera, 
CRD Fernando

Fall of wickets: 1-86 (Tharanga, 10.5 ov)

Bowling 	O 	M 	R 	W 	Econ 		
CB Mpofu 	2.2 	1 	17 	0 	7.28 	(1w) 	
RW Price 	3 	0 	14 	0 	4.66 		
AM Blignaut 	2 	0 	15 	0 	7.50 		
P Utseya 	3 	0 	21 	0 	7.00 		
GA Lamb 	2 	0 	20 	0 	10.00 		
E Chigumbura 	2 	0 	15 	0 	7.50 	(2w) 	
AG Cremer 	1 	0 	11 	0 	11.00