Date-stamped : 05 Oct94 - 18:25 Tour Match: Sri Lanka v Mashonaland Country Districts Harare, 3, 4, 5 October 1994 ====> Day 1, 3 Oct 94 Muralitheran and Gurusinha put Lanka in charge HARARE, Oct 3 (Reuter) - A six-wicket haul by off-spinner Muttiah Muralitheran and a fluent 73 not out from the recalled Asanka Gurusinha gave Sri Lanka a flying start to their cricket tour of Zimbabwe on Monday. After dismissing Mashonaland Country Districts for 177, Sri Lanka were 135 for one at the close on the first day of their three-day opening match. Mashonaland won the toss but were undermined by paceman Ravindra Pushpakamura, who maintained an accurate line and found a degree of outswing to take three for 37, and Muralitheran, who found some turn to capture six for 55. The local side collapsed to 134 for nine but a last-wicket partnership of 43 in just under 11 overs between Gary Steyn and John Gibson provided a useful late flourish. Sri Lanka made an authoritative start with openers Gurusinha and Dulip Samaraweera sharing a stand of 133 in 41 overs. Samaraweera struck 10 fours in his 53 before he surprisingly suc- cumbed to the occasional spin of Mark Stannard and was given out leg before as he stretched well forward. Gurusinha, dropped for the recent four-nation limited overs tour- nament in Sri Lanka, drove sweetly and straight for 11 fours and one six. Thanks Reuter Contributed by vicky (vigneswa@risky.ecs.umass.edu) ====> Day 2 & 3, 4-5 Oct 1994 Sri Lanka made an impressive start to their five-week Zimbabwe tour with a crushing victory over Mashonaland Country Districts by an innings and 298 runs at the Harare South Country Club on Wednesday. The home side started the third and final day on 54 for one in their second innings, but were bowled out for just 125 in 42.1 overs, with new ball bowler Pramodya Wickremasinghe taking four for 20 in 12 overs. Wickremasinghe bowled a little quicker than in the first innings and set the Districts side back on their heels with three wickets in the first four overs of the day, all caught behind by wicketkeeper Pubudu Dassanayake. Districts had been looking to Glamorgan opening batsman Steve James, unbeaten overnight on 44, to provide solid resistance at the crease. But James was undone by a delivery from Wickremasinghe which bounced and was caught behind without adding to his overnight score. The home side fell away thereafter, with off-spinner Muttiah Muralitheran taking two for 25 and fellow spinner Ruwan Kalpage returning two for 24. Earlier, captain Aravinda de Silva hammered an imperious 202 to lead a run spree by Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka put Mashonaland Country Districts' bowling to the sword with a first innings of 600 for six declared -- 423 ahead -- on the second day. The home side, bowled out for 177 on the opening day, were 54 for one in their second innings at the close, still 369 behind. Aravinda de Silva and left-hander Sanjeewa Ranatunga (119) shared a third-wicket partnership of 299 after opener Asanka Gurisinha, who made 73 of the overnight 135 for one, was caught and bowled by off-spinner Stephen Peall for 82. De Silva's dominant, run- a-ball innings contained 33 fours and a six, and he was particu- larly destructive with the drive and the cut. He eventually re- tired with the total on 456 to give his middle order some prac- tice on the flat pitch. Apart from Sanjeewa Ranatunga with his fluent century, brother Arjuna made 31 and Sanath Jayasuriya lashed a whirlwind 58, in- cluding two fours and two sixes in one Peall over. For Mashona- land, Zimbabwe test cap Peall (2-189) and occasional bowler Mark Stannard (2-26) were the most successful in a wilting attack. Sri Lanka manager Ranjit Fernando was well pleased with his team's first outing, against admittedly outclassed opposition. "Quite apart from the victory, this game gave us the opportunity of giving our batsmen sufficient exposure on pitches which are rather foreign to us." "Also, over the last few months we have had a surfeit of one-day cricket and it has been good for our players to try and get used to the longer game and cut out the risky shots they have been playing." Thanks Reuter Contributed by vicky (vigneswa@risky.ecs.umass.edu)