Date-stamped : 04 Apr97 - 14:28 Report - Dawn 04 April 1997 De Silva steers Lanka to victory over Zimbabwe SHARJAH, United Arab Emirates, April 3: Aravinda De Silva became the first Sri Lankan batsman to score 6,000 one-day runs as the world champions crushed Zimbabwe by seven wickets in the opening match of the Sharjah Cup here Thursday. The 31-year-old, playing his 199th match, joined a select band of eight other cricketers headed by West Indian Desmond Haynes (8,648 runs) to achieve the feat. His Sri Lankan team-mates celebrated De Silva's landmark in the fittest possible way w by outplaying Zimbabwe with both bat and ball. Left-arm seamer Chaminda Vaas grabbed three for 25 in 10 steady overs as Zimbabwe were restricted to a modest 187 for nine after being sent to bat on a slow wicket. Opener Sanath Jayasuriya then cracked a typically strokeful 56 off 74 balls and De Silva smashed 60 as Sri Lanka romped home with 26 deliveries to spare at the Sharjah cricket stadium. It was just the sort of performance the world one-day champions needed to regain confidence after a dismal tour of New Zealand where they lost both test matches and shared the one-day series 1-1. Skipper Arjuna Ranatunga, however, was quick to remind team-mates of continuing in the same vein for the rest of the double-leg preliminary league which also features formidable Pakistan. "One match will not win the tournament," Ranatunga said ahead of Friday's clash against Pakistan. "We need to be consistent all over again." De Silva added: "Reaching 6,000 runs was a good feeling, but I'll be happier if we regain the form which won us the World Cup last year." Ranatunga's decision to field first on a moist wicket paid off as Vaas and off-spinner Muttiah Murlitharan (two for 39) tied the Zimbabwe batsmen down. Andy Flower and Paul Strang top-scored for Zimbabwe with 38 each, but the rest of the batsmen failed to get the ball away on a pitch that hampered strokeplay. Craig Wishart (32) and Heath Streak (11) added to Zimbabwe's troubles by running themselves out while attempting risky singles against the brilliant Sri Lankan fielders. Zimbabwe were reduced to 139 for six by the 40th over, but Strang and Eddo Brandes who swung left-armer Nuwan Zoysa for the only six of the innings retrieved the situation partly. Sri Lanka suffered an early setback when Romesh Kaluwitharna fell to the fifth ball of the innings, driving Eddo Brandes uppishly to Craig Wishart at mid-off. Jayasuriya, however, made light of the slow wicket by hammering seven boundaries and a six a superb pull over square leg off Brandes to snatch the initiative. Jayasuriya fell in the 22nd over, holing out to long-on against spinner Paul Strang, but De Silva and Marvan Atapattu stepped in with a 107-run stand for the third wicket. Atapattu, promoted to number three in place of the axed Asanka Gurusinha, took 56 balls to score his first six runs before remaining unbeaten on 52. De Silva, who smashed nine boundaries and a six, was caught in the deep off part-time spinner Grant Flower with the scores tied, but by then he had done enough to win the man of the match award.wAFP. Source:: Dawn (http://xiber.com/dawn/) Report- Daily News Aravinda reaches milestone as Lanka crush Zimbabwe By Kuldip Lal SHARJAH, United Arab Emirates, Thursday Aravinda de Silva became the first Sri Lankan batsman to score 6,000 one-day runs as the world champions crushed Zimbabwe by seven wickets in the opening match of the Sharjah Cup here Thursday. The 31-year-old, playing his 199th match, joined a select band of eight other cricketers headed by West Indian Desmond Haynes (8,648 runs) to achieve the feat. His Sri Lankan team-mates celebrated De Silva's landmark in the fittest possible way -- by outplaying Zimbabwe with both bat and ball. Left-arm seamer Chaminda Vaas grabbed three for 25 in 10 steady overs as Zimbabwe were restricted to a modest 187 for nine after being sent to bat on a slow wicket. Opener Sanath Jayasuriya then cracked a typically strokeful 56 off 74 balls and De Silva smashed 60 as Sri Lanka romped home with 26 deliveries to spare at the Sharjah cricket stadium. It was just the sort of performance the world one-day champions needed to regain confidence after a dismal tour of New Zealand where they lost both test matches and shared the one-day series 1-1. Skipper Arjuna Ranatunga, however, was quick to remind team-mates of continuing in the same vein for the rest of the double-leg preliminary league which also features formidable Pakistan. "One match will not win the tournament,'' Ranatunga said ahead of Friday's clash against Pakistan. "We need to be consistent all over again.'' De Silva added: "Reaching 6,000 runs was a good feeling, but I'll be happier if we regain the form which won us the World Cup last year.'' Ranatunga's decision to field first on a moist wicket paid off as Vaas and off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan (two for 39) tied the Zimbabwe batsmen down. Andy Flower and Paul Strang top-scored for Zimbabwe with 38 each, but the rest of the batsmen failed to get the ball away on a pitch that hampered strokeplay. Craig Wishart (32) and Heath Streak (11) added to Zimbabwe's troubles by running themselves out while attempting risky singles against the brilliant Sri Lankan fielders. Zimbabwe were reduced to 139 for six by the 40th over, but Strang and Eddo Brandes -- who swung left-armer Nuwan Zoysa for the only six of the innings -- retrieved the situation partly. Sri Lanka suffered an early setback when Romesh Kaluwitharna fell to the fifth ball of the innings, driving Eddo Brandes uppishly to Craig Wishart at mid-off. Jayasuriya, however, made light of the slow wicket by hammering seven boundaries and a six -- a superb pull over square leg off Brandes -- to snatch the initiative. Jayasuriya fell in the 22nd over, holing out to long-on against spinner Paul Strang, but De Silva and Marvan Atapattu stepped in with a 107-run stand for the third wicket. Atapattu, promoted to number three in place of the axed Asanka Gurusinha, took 56 balls to score his first six runs before remaining unbeaten on 52. De Silva, who smashed nine boundaries and a six, was caught in the deep off part-time spinner Grant Flower with the scores tied, but by then he had done enough to win the man of the match award. Source :: Daily News (http://www.lanka.net) Report - Electronic Telegraph De Silva's landmark By Richard Bright ARAVINDA De Silva became the first Sri Lankan batsman to score 6,000 runs in one-day cricket as the world champions beat Zimbabwe by seven wickets in the opening match of the Sharjah Cup in the United Arab Emirates yesterday. The 31-year-old, playing his 199th match, joined a group of eight, headed by West Indian Desmond Haynes (8,648 runs), to achieve the feat. His Sri Lankan team-mates celebrated De Silva's landmark by outplaying Zimbabwe with both bat and ball. Left-arm seamer Chaminda Vaas grabbed three for 25 in 10 overs as Zimbabwe were restricted to 187 for nine after being sent in to bat on a slow wicket. Opener Sanath Jayasuriya then hit 56 off 74 balls and De Silva scored 60 as Sri Lanka won with 26 deliveries to spare. It was the sort of performance they needed to regain confidence after a tour of New Zealand where they lost both Tests and shared the one-day series 1-1. Captain Arjuna Ranatunga, however, was quick to remind his team to continue in the same vein for the rest of the preliminary league, which also features Pakistan. Source :: Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk) Contributed by The Management (help@cricinfo.com)