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Sri Lanka won the toss and elected to field in the 1st ODI in Harare today, and while Zimbabwe got off to a decent start, reaching 121/4, the loss of 7 wickets for just 3 runs (the three runs going to not-out batsman Tatenda Taibu - the 7 men out all failed to score) brought the famous Zimbabwe Collapse™ to new levels. Taibu was the top-scorer on 36*, but that was no consolation in a truly dismal display. Murali, who Proser Utseya claimed before the match was "no threat", took 4/14 from just 4 overs, while Mendis chipped in with 3/26, leaving Sri Lanka with an eminently chasable target.

In reply, Sri Lanka lost a wicket before a run was even on the board as Upul Tharanga was run out thanks to Chris Mpofu's quick reflexes, giving hopeful fans the thought of the wickets continuing to tumble through Sri Lanka's innings, but sadly that wasn't to be. While Zim did the best they could to contain Sri Lanka, with such a small target to bowl to they were always on the losing end of the battle and, after an innings that's not likely to be remembered for being entertaining cricket, the visitors reached their target with 100 balls remaining. Sangakkara's unbeaten 50 was the to Sri Lankan score, while Price's 2/24 was the highlight of an economical if unthreatening performance by Zim's bowlers.

If there's hope to be taken from this match, it's from the bowling and fielding performances - as ever, it's the batsmen who have let us down once again. Scorecard & innings commentaries for this match are below the cut - next match is on Saturday. See you then.
Zimbabwe 127 (31/50 overs; Taibu 36*, Muralitharan 4/14), Sri Lanka 130/4 (33.2/50 overs; Sangakkara 50*, Price 2/24). Sri Lanka win by 6 wickets.

No result from yesterday's one-day tour match between Zimbabwe A and Sri Lankans, as rain intervened at lunch and prevented Zimbabwe's batsmen from getting a knock. Sri Lankans won the toss and elected to bat, probably hoping for some additional batting practice after their first-innings knockabout in the four-day tour match, but to their credit Zimbabwe A's bowlers managed to restrict them to what would have been a chasable 235 all out. Opener Upul Tharanga (71) and Jehan Mubarak (88*) did the bulk of the work for the visitors, with no-one else managing to pass 20, while Ed Rainsford marked his return to form with 3/29. Admire Manyuma and Malcolm Waller also chipped in with 3 wickets apiece, giving Zimbabwe A the look of a competitive side.

There was to be no upset thanks to the weather, but at least the A side's performance gave some reason for hope. Next up: the first ODI on Thursday 20th November. Full scorecard for this match is below the cut.
Sri Lankans 235 (48.1/50 overs; Mubarak 88*, Rainsford 3/29), Zimbabwe A did not bat. Match abandoned (rain) - no result.

Zimbabwe Select's 4-day match against the Sri Lankans may have ended in a draw, but don't let that fool you into thinking that the home side put up a fight - Sri Lanka were fully in control of this match, and it was only their apparent desire for batting practice in their only innings that stopped them form comprehensively winning the game. Having won the toss and elected to bat, Select gave us an wonderful demonstration of the Zimbabwe Collapse™ in their first innings as the Sri Lankan bowlers, led by Ajantha Mendis (4/59), cut easily through the batting lineup. Elton Chigumbura's 33 was the top score as a number of key players managed to play themselves out before really getting started. With no real partnerships to anchor the innings, Select were bowled out for just 159 - not nearly good enough if Zimbabwe are trying to persuade the ICC that they're ready to return to Test cricket.

In reply, Sri Lankans score 567/4 before calling it a day and declaring, with both Kumar Sangakkara (174) and Chamara Kapugedera (150) scoring big centuries as Select simply failed to bother them with their bowling. Three other players scored half-centuries. The declaration gave Sri Lankans a chance to push for a win, especially if Select repeated their first-innings performance, but to their credit Zimbabwe at least put up a fight to force the draw, let by good performances - and not before time - from Hamilton Maskadza (72) and Stuart Matsikenyeri (71). Mendis again proved a thorn in Select's side, this time taking 4/86, but Select were able to hold out until close of play, ending the final day on 238/5 and claiming a draw that they really didn't deserve.

Zimbabwe's weaknesses have now been clearly exposed, and the side has a lot of work to do before the 1st ODI if a humiliating whitewash is to be avoided. The next match is a one-day tour match on 17 November, where we'll all be looking for signs of major improvement. Full scorecard below the cut.
Zimbabwe Select 159 (Chigumbura 33, Mendis 4/59) & 238/5 (H Masakadza 72, Mendis 4/86), Sri Lankans 567/4 decl (Sangakkara 174, Utseya 3/133). Match Drawn

Overnight rain, and inadequate drainage facilities at the Nairobi Gymkhana Grounds, let to the abandonment of today's Tri-Series final between Zimbabwe and Kenya without a ball being bowled. With no reserve day set aside, that leaves a result impossible and means that Kenya and Zimbabwe share the title. The words "washout" and "anti-climax" come to mind.

Next up for Zimbabwe: the visit of Sri Lanka next month.

Zimbabwe and Kenya will contest the final of the Kenya Tri-Series after rain saw the abandonment of their final round-robin stage match. That left all three teams level on 9 points, with Zimbabwe and Kenya top on Net Run Rate - Ireland's thrashing at the hands of Zimbabwe in the tournament opener has certainly cost them dear.

The final is scheduled for Saturday 25th, weather permitting.

A stubbornly wet outfield at the Gymkhana Grounds in Nairobi has led to the abandonment of today's tri-series match between Zimbabwe and Ireland. Not too sure who would have been more please about that, given current form... Under the ICC's rules for tournaments of this type, that means 2 points for each side, leaving Zimbabwe ahead of Ireland on Net Run Rate only, with both sides on 7 points.

Kenya are scheduled to play Ireland tomorrow, outfield permitting...

The Kenya Tri-Series doesn't seem to do narrow wins, with Zimbabwe being the latest side to be on the wrong end of a thrashing as Steve Tikolo's third ODI century helped the home side secure a 95-run win while heaping some more hunmiliation on the Zim side.

Kenya won the toss and elected to bat, and the early wickets of Waters and Obuya saw Zimbabwe gain the early advantage, but a 158-run 3rd-wicket partnership between Tikolo and Alex Obanda laid the groundwork for the Kenyan victory. Prosper Utseya once again showed very suspect judgement in his attack decision, and while the Kenyans were cutting loose in the middle of the innings stuck with a bowling attack (Maruma, Dabengwa and Chigumbura) that clearly wasn't up to the job on the day. It was only the eventual arrival of Chris Mpofu (6/52) in the 44th that saw wickets begin to fall regularly, and you have to wonder how the innings would have gone for Kenya if he had been introduced a lot sooner.

If the bowling was poor, however, the batting was even worse, as the trademark Zimbabwe Collapse™ made its appearance once again. Needing to force the pace to stay in the chase, Zim's batsmen made a number of basic errors in their chase that saw 6 of them dismissed without reaching double figures, and no partnerships of significance formed. Stuart Matsikenyeri finally returned to some form with 56, the tope score of the innings, while Regis Chakabva contributed 41, but with the rest of the order collapsing around them a win was never in the picture. The side were bowled out for 190 in the 39th over, well short of the target.

Their margin of victory over Ireland earlier in the week sees Zim still top of the tournament table on Net Run Rate, with all three teams on 5 points each, but by rights Zimbabwe should have won this easily - instead, poor captaincy and batting has seen the side slide to another defeat that should never have happened.

Full scorecard below the cut. Next match is Ireland v Zimbabwe on Tuesday (21st).
Kenya 285/9 (50 overs; Tikolo 102, Mpofu 6/52), Zimbabwe 190 (38.1 overs; Matsikenyeri 56, Varaiya 3/53). Kenya win by 95 runs

After winning the toss and electing to bat, Zimbabwe were able to put their humiliation by Uganda behind them and set a tough target for Ireland to chase. Cephas Zhuwawo was given his full international debut (in the process becoming Zimbabwe's 100th ODI player), and along with fellow opener Hamilton Masakadza powered Zim to 71 in just 8 overs, before losing his wicket. That quick start gave the innings a good grounding, but subsequent batsmen Tatenda Taibu and Chamu Chibhabha played a more restrained game which saw the run-rate fall to a mere 5/over at one point, before the pair again picked up the pace around the 38th over. Taibu top-scored with 74, but an impressive lower-order knock by Elton Chigumbura - 33 runs off 19 balls - powered Zimbabwe to 303/8, and left Ireland chasing an unlikely total.

Ireland's reply got off to the worst possible start with the loss of Niall O'Brien in the 3rd over, followed by a steady stream of victims as the unusual opening pair of Prosper Utseya and Elton Chigumbura tightened the screws. The middle order settled down to at least try and bat for a while, anchored by Kevin O'Brien's 28 (Ireland's best score of the innings), but the combination of Ray Price (0/7 from 10 overs) and Timycen Maruma (2/50) made sure that runs were hard to come by. By the 40th over, the run-rate was beyond what Ireland could realistically hope to achieve and the match was already lost - and a late contribution to the wicket haul by Keith Dabengwa (3/17) made sure it stayed that way. Ireland were eventually all out for 147, giving Zimbabwe a 156-run win and erasing the memory of the loss to Uganda.

Full scorecard and innings commentaries below the cut. Next match is Kenya v Ireland tomorrow, Zimbabwe are in action again on Sunday against Kenya.
Zimbabwe 303/8 (50 overs; Taibu 74, Connell 3/68), Ireland 147 (46.1/50 overs; K O'Brien 38, Dabengwa 3/17). Zimbabwe win by 156 runs.

Uganda scored a shock one-day victory over Zimbabwe earlier today in a rain-affected match in Nairobi. Ugandan bowling trio of Charles Waiswa (2/40), Daniel Ruyange (2/23) and captain Davis Arinaitwe (2/25) restricted Zimbabwe to 175 all out with only stand-in skipper Hamilton Masakadza (55), Cephas Zhuwawo (44), Chamu Chibhabha (25) and Graeme Cremer (21) managing double figures.

In reply, Ugandan left-hand opener Arthur Kyobe gave the chase a strong start with a solid half-century of 51 runs and was in partnership with Roger Mukasa Galiwango (18) as Uganda seemed on course for an easy win at 86/1. Uganda then lost four quick wickets to leave them at 90/4, but in-form Joel Olweny struck 30 runs and by the time the heavens opened the minnows were 17 runs above the required par score (125) at 142/6.

For Zimbabwe, it's nothing short of a humiliation, and a warning bell ahead of the tri-series that gets underway tomorrow with Zimbabwe v Ireland - Ireland have a decent record against Zim, having tied them famously during the 2007 World Cup, and beaten them comprehensively in an unranked match in Belfast a few years previously. With their form in Canada having been less than convincing, the side need to step up a gear quickly if they're to prove those who resent their Full Member status wrong.

No scorecard yet available for this match - I'll add it if/when it becomes available.
Zimbabwe 175 (Masakadza 55, Waiswa 2/40), Uganda 142/6 (31.4 overs [D/L target 125]; Kyobe 51). Uganda win by 17 runs (D/L method)

Zimbabwe restored some lost pride by teaching Canada their place in life in their 3rd-Place playoff in King City on Monday. Having received some well-deserved stick following their tie in the group stage, Zimbabwe finally found their form and performed as they should have done in that first match - after being put into bat by Canada, the side suffered the early loss of Cephas Zhuwawo, but opener Hamilton Mazakadza (79) and Chamu Chibhabha (40) then went on to put on 89 runs for the second wicket, with Masakdaza in particularly imperious form. Tatenda Taibu played the role of middle-order anchor, not scoring much himself but helping to rotate the strike and give the more agressive men around him their chance to make the most of the weak Canadian bowling, with Elton Chigumbura's cameo appearance (25 runs off 8 balls) being particularly enjoyable. Even Keith Dabengwa got in on the action, with 16 from 6 deliveries, and Zimbabwe finished their innings with an impressive 184/5, by far the highest score of the tournament. Rao was the best of the Canadian bowlers, with figures of 2/33.

Canada were always going to have a hard time chasing, and between early wickets and some very stingy bowling - Ray Price and Chris Mpofu both matched Utseya's record for most economic spell in Twenty20, set only the day before, and added three wickets into the bargain for figures of 2/6 and 1/6 respectively for their 4-overs spells. Utseya himself chipped in with 3/26 from his 4 overs. Against that sort of determined attack, Canada had no chance, and with only 2 players reaching double figures (Samad 29, Bhatti 11), they were never in with a shout. They were finally bowled out at the end of the 19th over for a paltry 75, only barely "beating" the lowest score in T20 Internationals, currently held by Kenya.

The win will give Zimbabwe some confidence ahead of the Kenya leg of their tour, which gets underway with a tour match against Uganda on Wednesday - a side who, while well down the rankings, have tripped up both Kenya and Bermuda this year and shouldn't be underestimated. Full scorecard for this match is below the cut.
Zimbabwe 184/5 (20 overs; Masakadza 79, Balaji Rao 2/33), Canada 75 (19.2/20 overs; Samad 29, Utseya 3/26, Price 2/6). Zimbabwe win by 109 runs.