 The third game of the tri-series will played between Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe
at Bulawayo. Sri Lanka has played on game against India so far and lost that rather
convincingly, whereas Zimbabwe had beaten India in the first game of the
tournament. This means that if Sri Lanka win this game, there will be a three-way
tie between the three teams with two points each before they head to Harare for
the second leg of the tournament.
Click for Live Score Card of Zimbabwe Vs Sri LankaSri Lanka had batted first in the previous game against India and were allotted
only 240 odd in their fifty overs. whilst batting first is a bit of an issue
given that the game starts very early, Sri Lanka will need to guard against
the same kind of batting display when the players rely on others to get the
runs instead of carrying their team through to a good total.
The good news for Sri Lanka was obviously the fact that Tillakaratne Dilshan
got his form back and that meant that the top-order was doing rather well. Of
course, in the absence of Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara, it was only
natural that Dilshan took more responsibility, and it was exactly what happened.
The same cannot be said about the Sri Lankan bowling through. They got the
early wickets, but then, lost their way as the spinners failed to extract anything
out of the pitch. The Indians made ample merry and went on to score the needed
runs with many overs to spare. Against Zimbabwe, the likes of Ajantha Mendis
and Suraj Randiv can be expected to have a good time, but the manner in which
Zimbabwe batted, it did look like the Lankans could do with some looking at
the videos of their batting.
Zimbabwe will be on a high and will know that it they win this game against
Sri Lanka, they have a very good chance of making it through to the finals of
the tournament. However, they will also do well to not think too far ahead of
themselves and hence play sensibly. This includes the batting and bowling both,
something that had managed well in the India game.
Brendan Taylor may have won the man of the match award in the previous game,
but Craig Ervine batting was something to look at as he displayed the
maturity of a 100-Test veteran to guide the team through.
Sri Lanka obviously go into the side as favourites, but beware Zimbabwe!
|
