 Zimbabwe take on Sri Lanka in the final of the tri-nation series after Zimbabwe qualified for the final with three wins from four games whereas Sri Lanka
lost one game each to India and Zimbabwe and yet went through to the final. The
match will be played at Harare.
Click for Live Score Card of
Zimbabwe Vs Sri Lanka
It is the irony of the tournament, which shows that the teams batting second
have all won their games. Except for India in the first game, who had won the
toss and elected o bat first, all teams who have won the toss have fielded first
and won the game, and that just goes on to show how difficult it is to bat first.
Yesterday, in the league match between Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe, which
was a dress rehearsal of sorts, Sri Lanka seemed to have overcome that issue
as they batted first and got off to a flying start, having scored 120 in their
first 20 overs. At this stage, one thought that the Lankans could go on to get
300 in their 50 overs, but the Zimbabwean spinners went on to restrict the Lankans
to a measly 230 odd and got to the total with so much ease that one wonders
if the senior teams of both the sides, India and Sri Lanka would have been present,
they would still have managed to beat Zimbabwe with as much ease as they have
been doing in the recent times.
Having said that, Zimbabwe will know that it will be a totally different proposition
if they bat first. It is a fact that they will struggle much more than Sri Lanka
did, and that is where the encounter could almost end.
One gets the sense that for the finals to be a much more interesting battle
between the two sides, the Sri Lankans will need to bat first and try and pile
up 280-300. This will ensure that the hosts will need to use all their experience
at the top of the order in Brendan Taylor, Tatenda Taibu, Elton
Chigumbura and company to get a move on, and try and get there. They have alredy
done it once against India in the first game and there is no reason to believe
that they would not be able to repeat it again; though, the Indian bowling was
never as strong as the Sri Lankans.
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