Lanka beat Zimbabwe in Sharjah

After two games, two things have become clear. One, this is going to be a low scoring tournament. And two, the dew that falls in the late evenings will mean that teams bowling second are going to be under a handicap -- especially the spinners, who find they can't grip the ball properly.

Which would indicate that teams batting first will be content to chase. As Sanath Jayasuriya opted to do here, in the second game of the Sharjah triseries, after winning the toss.

Zimbabwe, coached these days by Carl Rackeman, appear to be having some problems with personnel. Alistair Campbell had to sit this one out, as punishment for being a touch too vehement in his reaction to being given out in the recent Kenya knockout. But Zimbabwe also appear to have misplaced Grant Flower, Neil Johnson, Murray Goodwin and a few other familiar faces, including Eddo Brandes, for one reason and another.

Which gives the team a bit of a depleted look -- and which showed in the game today. A very inexperienced opening combination, with just four ODIs between them, were up against an experienced opening attack, and it was evident in the struggle early on. Neither opener seemed comfortable against the finely honed Lankan gameplan of line and length bowling backed by very good fielding, and the pressure produced the wicket as early as the 6th over, when Marillier got one from Zoysa pitching leg and going further away. He attempted to swing it down to the vacant fine leg region, got the touch, and Kaluwitharana, already going to leg to cover the ball, dived to get glove to that one. An over later, Stuart Carlisle was walking back to a piece of good fielding. The drive to mid on saw Atapattu racing in to field and throw the stumps down with Carlisle, attempting to make the batting end, woefully short of his ground. Zimbabwe after 7 were 13/2 and not looking good.

They looked even worse when Mark Vermulean, in the 19th over, tried to clear Mid off to the bowling of Weeraratne. Jayasuriya, fielding straight at mid off, raced to his left, then flung himself diagonally to take it in his left hand at full stretch. A rather needless dismissal at a time when the experienced Andy Flower appeared to be getting things back under control.

Vice captain Guy Whittall came up against Muralitharan bowling, for the second day in succession, with incandescent brilliance. Put bluntly, Whittall didn't have a clue and there was something almost farcical in the way he kept trying to hit his way out of trouble, and sighing with relief as his mishits failed to carry to hand. The fact that the runs had dried up meant that Whittall couldn't afford to even play out Murali. The top spinner finally did for him, as Murali curved one into him, then straightened it to get the edge of an attempted off drive and hold the return catch very low in front of him.

After this dismissal, there was an interesting tactic on view as Lanka looked to hustle the Zimbabweans with overs bowled at breathless pace, Russell Arnold and Sanath Jayasuriya being the implementors of a strategy that ensured the Zimbabwe batsmen just couldn't get settled. Flower, though, handled the pressure with admirable aplomb, not letting the lack of runs worry him, playing an innings very reminiscent of the one played by Sachin Tendulkar the previous day. The half century, his 37th, came off 82 balls, and the extent of his contribution can be guaged from the fact that at the time, Zimbabwe had managed a mere 103 for the loss of four.

Dirk Viljoen was content to hold his end up, while Flower produced a superb exhibition of playing spin. Flower has been very consistent against Lanka, handling Muralitharan better than most international batsmen, employing the reverse sweep to extraordinary effect -- in fact, the way he kept reversing, someone seeing him bat for the first time might have had problems figuring out if he was a right hander or a southpaw. Vide the 42nd over, when a sweep, a reverse, then another reverse produced 3 fours. The third boundary in fact should have been a wicket, as the Flower reverse sweep saw the ball go through Jayasuriya at point, the Lankan captain apparently blinded by the sun.

Viljoen, who all along had been content to play a waiting game, joined the party in the 45th over, picking on Arnold to blast two sixes over midwicket. Later in the same over, Flower reached his century, and it did seem as though Zimbabwe might end up posting a challenging total.

In the event, they managed 225 -- one more than India's effort the previous day. Zoysa and Vaas produced good spells in the death, to peg the Zimbabweans back and ensure that Lanka didn't have too formidable a chase.

As in the first game, Lanka produced a bit of alarm early on, when Streak in his very first over took out Gunawardene. An interesting dismissal, actually -- the left hander has a habit of going a long way across to off, occasionally leaving his leg stump exposed as a result. Zahir Khan was seen trying to aim for that stump yesterday. Today, it was Streak, and in his fifth ball, the Zimbabwe captain struck, bowling the Lankan opener round his legs.

And that was pretty much that. Sanath Jayasuriya began with circumspection, gradually eased up a gear, and soon began playing with seeming contempt for a hugely inexperienced bowling attack. Vice captain Marvan Atapattu, out cheaply in the first game but coming in on the back of a 2000 season that has seen him average 54+ in ODIs, took his time to settle in, and then began playing a typical Atapattu knock, driving and cutting with flair and seemingly unhurried in attack and defence.

Zimbabwe had one chance to get back into the game, when in the 14th over Jayasuriya attempted to blast one wide of long on from Bryan Strang, the ball flared off the bottom of the bat and Nkala, getting nicely under the skier, made a complete meal of the take.

That was pretty much Zimbawe's last chance to get into this one. Lanka, 65/1 in 15, motored along very nicely, bringing up the 100 (thanks to a 100 off 110 partnership for the second wicket between captain and vice captain) in the 21st over, and then opening out even more to shut the fielding side right out of the game.

Paul Strang managed to take out Jayasuriya with a long hop which the Lankan captain, who had pulled a similar ball for four in the earlier over, tried to pull again. This time, he tried to keep it down, where earlier in the over he had cleared the infield -- the result being a catch to Carlisle square on the on, Jayasuriya going for 78 off 85 just when he looked good to see Lanka home.

Mahela Jayawardene came out next, and Atapattu took over the role of senior partner, batting with increasingly ominous ease. The bowling was completely stingless and Lanka would have romped home far more easily but for some superlative ground fielding by the Zimbabweans.

One such piece of fielding ended Atapattu's innings on 90 (138 balls) when a superb stop at mid on saw Atapattu, looking for a run and being sent back, a long way out of his ground. But by then, Lanka needed just over 20 runs, and with Sangakarra joining Jayawardene and good batting talent still waiting in the hut, the Atapattu dismissal was a case of too little, far too late.

Alistair Campbell's non-availability certainly hurt the Zimbabweans, but the greater problem for the team is its bowling. Streak is a better than fair bowler, but his partners with the new ball, Bryan Strang and Travis Friend, are at best just around the medium pace mark, and Paul Strang's spin was completely nullified by the wet ball. Containing the opposition will be this Zimbabwean outfit's biggest problem -- speaking of which, they go up against the Indians tomorrow and must be hoping to get first strike.

The Lankans, meanwhile, look increasingly ominous. The conditions here suit them to a T, and the side's body language reflects it.

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Mail Cricket Editor