Smarting Sri Lanka looking to even the score

At the toss in the first One-Day International of the series, Russell Arnold had pronounced the Galle International Stadium strip ‘a belter’. The pitch lived up the former Sri Lanka opener’s assessment, though the match didn't pan out the way most people would have expected it to.

Sri Lanka put on a sizeable 316 for 5, but Zimbabwe’s batsmen mounted a spirited chase to win by six wickets in 47.4 overs on Friday. Both teams will have to leave that result behind quickly and prepare for the second ODI of the five-match series on Sunday at the same venue.

But while Sri Lanka will want to forget about the first match and move on, Zimbabwe will carry the inspiration from victory to try and repeat that performance. In this the home side was dealt a blow on the eve of the match, with Sri Lanka Cricket announcing that Lasith Malinga would not be taking part due to a viral influenza. He has been advised 48 hours’ rest and the experienced pacer's absence will be a huge blow. Lakshan Sandakan suffered from the same illness in the first ODI, which is why he couldn't play in the match.

Solomon Mire was the architect of Zimbabwe’s win on Friday, bringing up his maiden ODI ton and the fourth-fastest century for Zimbabwe. The opener’s 96-ball 112, along with important contributions from Sean Williams (65 off 69), Sikandar Raza (67 not out off 56) and Malcolm Waller’s charge with an unbeaten 40 off 29 balls ensured that Zimbabwe became the first visiting side to successfully chase down a 300-plus target in Sri Lanka in more than 200 ODIs in the country.

Zimbabwe had earlier won chasing 300-plus targets on two other occasions in ODIs - both against New Zealand at home.

While it looked like Sri Lanka got everything right with the batting, the bowling and fielding let the team down. The spinners were negotiated with ease, with Zimbabwe's batsmen offered lots of scoring opportunities, and the pacers didn't pose too much threat either.

Crucially, each of Mire and Williams benefitted from grassed chances that allowed the duo to add 161 runs for the third wicket and change the course of the match.

Angelo Mathews, the captain, left his side in no doubt about how disappointed he was with the effort, and the home team will be eager to redeem itself in the second ODI with a more disciplined performance.

“Poor performance by the bowlers and fielding once again let us down,” Mathews said after the match. “We dropped crucial catches at crucial moments. Can't say that enough. We have trained extremely hard on fielding, but it's just that in critical situations, we keep dropping catches which cost us the game.”

For its part, Zimbabwe would love to keep the momentum going and repeat the attacking brand of cricket displayed on Friday. With the same strip likely to be used for the second match as well, both sides will be looking to tighten their bowling and look to exploit the little bit of assistance that spinners had. The temperature is forecast to be around 27 degrees and there is a possibility of light showers in the evening, but that is unlikely to affect the chances of getting a full match in.

Squads
Sri Lanka: Angelo Mathews (capt), Upul Tharanga (vice-capt), Niroshan Dikwella (wk), Danushka Gunathilaka, Kusal Mendis, Asela Gunaratne, Wanidu Hasaranga, L. Sandakan, Akila Dananjaya, Nuwan Pradeep Fernando, Lasith Malinga, Dushmantha Chameera, Lahiru Madushanka.

Zimbabwe: Graeme Cremer (capt), Solomon Mire, Hamilton Masakadza, Craig Ervine, Sean Williams, Ryan Burl, Peter Moor (wk), Sikandar Raza Butt, Tendai Chatara, Christ Mpofu, Donald Tiripano, Richard Ngarava, Wellington Masakadza, Malcolm Waller, Chamu Chibhabha, Tarisai Musakanda.