1st Match: Sri Lanka v Zimbabwe at Sharjah, 26 Oct 2001 Suhael Ahmed |
Sri Lanka innings:
Pre-game: Zimbabwe innings: |
The Zimbabwe team: Brian Murphy (capt), Douglas Marillier, Dion Ebrahim, Stuart Carlisle, Andy Flower, Craig Wishart, Grant Flower, Heath Streak, Travis Friend, Gary Brent, Sean Ervine. 12th man: Mluleki Nkala. The umpires: George Sharp (England), Rudi Koertzen (South Africa) and match referee: Denis Lindsay (South Africa).
Sri Lanka started off rather shakily with Gunawardene run out after scoring 5 and star batsman Atapattu came and played as solidly as ever. The partnership between the Sri Lanka captain and Atapattu could not last long and Travis Friend held a fine catch off his own bowling to send Jayasuriya back after scoring 21 runs off 28 gballs.
Next to go was Jayawardene, another run out for a fine 33 off 45 balls. But in walked Arnold to help consolidate the innings. The pair of Atapattu and Arnold kept on adding runs smartly till Atapattu holed out to Wishart at long on after a fine 92 off 110 balls in the 45th over with the score 216 for 4. Sri Lanka were ready for the slog overs.
Kaluwitharana joined Arnold amidst the drums and cheering from the many Sri Lankan fans enjoying some international cricket. The last ball of the 46th over was a juicy full toss, slammed along the ground to long on by Arnold as he reached 67 off 86 balls. The partnership came to an early end when Kaluwitharana was lbw, deceived by a fine slower ball from Ervine in the 47th over.
Vaas came in to add some quick runs and was immediately dropped by Ervine off his own bowling after almost holding on while trying for a shy at the stumps. After 47 overs Sri Lanka were 230 for 5.
Helped by a bye that ran over the rope, a huge six and a not out decision by umpire Koertzen to a full toss that dipped into the stumps to hit Vaas on his thigh Sri Lanka continued to add quick runs 251 for 5 after 49 overs.
Brent bowled the last over and he managed to control the charge. Murphy held a slog to leg off a low full toss to send Vaas back with one ball to go and the score at 254 for 6. Muralitharan came in and scrambled a two off the last ball to help Sri Lanka to 256 after 50 overs. Arnold was still there at 76 off 94 balls.
Some excellent fired up fielding by Zimbabwe and a slow outfield prevented a larger total and Zimbabwe will be facing a target of 257 after the break.
The Pakistan team may be a bit rusty for, apart from a single Test against Bangladesh, the players' only form of competition has been domestic cricket after their return from England last summer. The other teams in the tournament have been involved in regular international cricket, which may well be represent a significant advantage to them.
Although Pakistan have won more trophies in Sharjah than anywhere else in the world, the Sri Lankans are favourites and looking for a hat-trick of wins.
Their coach, Dav Whatmore, is full of confidence, saying "We seem to have got the hang of winning tournaments there."
Newly appointed Pakistan coach Mudassar Nazar is more guarded.
"We have high hopes for Sharjah but are mindful that on our last visit, Sri Lanka beat us in the final. Their team is very well organised these days, and their interim cricket Board is taking all the right decisions."
Zimbabwe, meanwhile, come to Sharjah after a series of successive losses back home and will be looking to rebuild under a new captain in Brian Murphy and a new coach, Geoff Marsh.
Marsh sees this tournament as a real opportunity to help strengthen the team's performances.
"The Sharjah tournament is a great challenge for the boys. We are going there for four games before the final. I will be looking to going away and working with the guys, and hopefully the guys are also looking forward to going away and working, training hard and improving their performance. Because in just over 12 months' time we've got the World Cup where Zimbabwe will be hosting their six qualifying games. I am sure that the boys want to put up a good performance in front of the home crowd."
As for the pitch at Sharjah it may be interesting to note that it was the brainchild of a Pakistani curator, Mohammad Bashir, and seems to be very batsman-friendly - much like the one at Gadaffi Stadium in Lahore.
Today, Sri Lanka face Zimbabwe in front of a huge holiday crowd. Although Sri Lanka are obvious favourites, let's not forget that Zimbabwe will be going all out to cause a few surprises. All signs indicate a high-scoring game is in store with lots of action and fun for the fans.
© CricInfo
Date-stamped : 26 Oct2001 - 22:23