Day5: Flower guides Zimbabwe to safety but Sri Lanka take the series
Zimbabwe successfully fought their way through a cloudy but dry final day of the Third Test, but were doubtless disappointed that rain, which had washed out almost five sessions, so completely altered what until then had been a well-balanced match, considering that Sri Lanka would have had to bat last on this pitch.
Now, with only the final day left, Sri Lanka were the only team that could still win, barring remarkable happenings. All Zimbabwe had to play for was a draw, by batting out time on a damp pitch that gave considerable assistance to the Sri Lankan seamers, as well as plenty of turn for Muralitharan.
Zimbabwe began the day 35 runs ahead with eight wickets in hand. The sky was still largely overcast as play started, but with no sign of rain. They soon lost the wicket of Johnson (9), who received a ball from Wickramasinghe that flew wickedly from the pitch and off the edge of his bat to third slip Dilshan, reducing Zimbabwe to 51 for three.
Goodwin and Andy Flower struggled for survival against the moving and lifting ball. With the pitch damp in patches, the movement and bounce was inconsistent, making it impossible for the batsmen to play with any confidence. The heavy outfield conspired to make run-scoring more difficult still. The batsmen remained positive, though, looking to score off every loose ball. Goodwin was denied the first four of the day when a powerful straight drive off Pushpakumara demolished the stumps at the far end of the pitch.
The pitch seemed to ease a little after an hour or so, and runs began to come more freely. With the seam bowlers causing less trouble, Muralitharan came on to bowl. He tied the batsmen down until Goodwin swept him powerfully to midwicket for four. Muralitharan got him eventually, though, with a superb top-spinner that came off the edge of his bat to be caught by Arnold at slip. He scored 38, and Zimbabwe were 93 for four. The Zimbabwe innings was in the balance again as Campbell joined Flower, and once again the ability or otherwise of the captain to hang in there was crucial.
Campbell began cautiously before pulling a short ball from Pushpakumara fiercely through midwicket for four. Campbell's ability to rise to a crisis has been in the past for some time, but on this occasion he kept his head down and his concentration up, and Zimbabwe went in to lunch on 119 for four (Flower 27, Campbell 15).
The batsmen began confidently after the interval, although Campbell was surprised by a shooter from Pushpakumara that missed off stump and beat the keeper as well, yielding a bye. He experienced some trouble with Muralitharan, who had his two close off-side fielders by the bat, but Flower stole a single and then swept powerfully to the midwicket boundary. Campbell edged a ball from Pushpakumara just short of third slip, but then pulled him to midwicket for four. But the bowler twice beat him outside off stump in his next over, and clearly the pitch was still giving the bowlers assistance.
Muralitharan was getting a great deal of spin now, and causing Campbell in particular a great deal of trouble, partly due to his failure to get fully forward. Vaas was the one to take his wicket, though, as Campbell (27), not quite behind the line, was late on a ball that held its line but flew off the pitch, and edged a catch to Jayawardene at second slip. Zimbabwe, on 151 for five with their last two recognised batsmen together and Flower on 41, were still struggling for survival.
Whittall hit a superb cover drive for four off Vaas, but did not always appear so confident. Wickramasinghe had a confident appeal for a catch down the leg side by Flower turned down by umpire Robinson, who enjoyed a very good match, the television replay appearing to show another good decision with the ball flicking the pad.
Flower finally reached his fourth fifty of the series (off 184 balls) in streaky fashion, slashing at Muralitharan and getting a thick edge which flew over first slip to the boundary. Whittall (9) fell victim to another top-spinner from Muralitharan, edging a low catch to Arnold at slip, and Zimbabwe were 174 for six, with the tail exposed.
Price came in to be surrounded by three close fielders and survived three balls without adding to the score before the teams went off for tea. Zimbabwe were 161 ahead with four wickets in hand, a maximum of 39 overs still to be bowled and Flower on 54 – not safe yet.
Price struggled at first, but took advantage of a full toss from Muralitharan to execute a well-timed off-drive to the boundary. Flower, now into his 25th hour of batting in the series, batted on patiently, but was responsible for one more run-out against Zimbabwe, calling Price (4) through for a risky and unnecessary single. Jayasuriya fielded at square leg and threw in to the bowler’s end, where the ball fortuitously rebounded from Muralitharan’s hands on to the stumps, reducing Zimbabwe to 184 for seven.
Brandes restrained himself and concentrated on staying there, and the lack of urgency in the field seemed to indicate that Sri Lanka had given up any expectations of victory. The light began to deteriorate, but not seriously enough to threaten play immediately. Zimbabwe were still taking their batting very seriously, but Sri Lanka were now merely going through the motions.
Zimbabwe made a token declaration almost immediately after the drinks break, with their score on 197 for seven (Flower 70, Brandes 1). This left Sri Lanka in theory with 185 required to win and a maximum of 18 overs to be bowled.
Atapattu began the second innings by pulling a long hop from Olonga for a cracking four. Jayasuriya opened the batting second time round, denying Arnold the chance to be on the field throughout the match, and got off the mark by steering the ball uppishly through the gap between slips and gully. But Brandes struck early again, as Atapattu (6) attempted a hook and edged the ball to the keeper, making Sri Lanka 7 for one.
Arnold enjoyed a life when he snicked his first ball straight to substitute fielder Andrew Whittall at third slip, but the chance went down. Jayasuriya then began to open up and go for his strokes, although even he could hardly hope to match the required scoring rate, and Arnold followed suit. The match finally ended at 5pm local time, with Sri Lanka on 36 for one (Jayasuriya 16, Arnold 14).
On a less pleasant note, Johnson, Campbell and Goodwin were fined 30% of their match fees and given suspended sentences by match referee Jackie Hendriks for persistent sledging of Sri Lankan batsmen. This is the first time Zimbabwean cricketers have been punished for this kind of offence, and probably came about as a backlash after the Goodwin run-out incident.