Related Links : ICC Champions Trophy 2006 : Scorecard
Sri Lanka won their second game of the Champions Trophy by 144 runs against Zimbabwe but they had to toil hard for 42.3 overs to get the 10 wickets of the Minnows at Ahmedabad. Zimbabwe never had the batting to challenge Sri Lanka or for that matter anyone at the international level and it was a net session in the middle for all its batsmen. The Lankans couldn’t quite run through the Zimbabwean batting as its spinners found it difficult to grip the wet ball and get it turn on the surface. Upul Tharanga was the star of the game once again with his second successive century in this tournament which also happens to be his 6th in his very short career.
Mahela Jayawardene had won the toss and elected to bat first with just the one change in his side that of resting Chaminda Vaas to bring in left armer Ruchira Perera. Zimbabwe had also made one change dropping the impressive Edward Rainsford to include Tawanda Mupariwa who had opened the bowling with Anthony Ireland. The start from Tharanga and Jayasuriya was sedate as they couldn’t really get going. Jayasuriya who had scored 9 from 15 deliveries was the first casualty as he backed up a long distance and never looked to get back to the crease when Tharanga’s drive was played to covers. Elton Chigumbura was the fielder at covers seizing the opportunity to run out Jayasuriya at the non striker’s end. Sri Lanka received its second setback when it had lost its skipper Mahela Jayawardene after he had chased a wide and nothing delivery from Ireland to give a simple catch to the keeper.
At 49 for 2 in the 11th over, it just didn’t look like a proper approach from the batsmen as a score of 300 plus was expected from them. Tharanga was still there though and he had Kumar Sangakkara who was taking his time to settle down. Both batsmen weren’t in any hurry and the partnership slowly but steadily gained the momentum. The third wicket partnership was going great guns with Upul Tharanga notching up his second century in a row with this one coming in 120 balls with 12 fours and a six over long off. Kumar Sangakkara got his 50 in 66 balls which meant that his innings wasn’t the smoothest one in his career. There wasn’t much pace that these two left handers could use and under the warm conditions it wasn’t easy to force the pace against the slow bowlers Prosper Utseya and leg spinner Tafadzwa Kamungozi.
The third wicket partnership ended at 165 runs with Tharanga getting bowled by a slow off break from Matsikenyeri after the left hander had looked to play a big shot. Tharanga made 110 from 130 balls with 13 fours and a six. Sangakkara who had shifted gears got out in the next over holing down to Matsikenyeri off slow medium pacer Justice Chibhabha. Sangakkara scored 80 from 86 balls with 7 hits to the fence. Sri Lanka finished at 285 for 7 only as it never got any big sixes coming from the rest of the batsmen. Former Skipper, Marvan Atapattu eased his way to an unbeaten 30-ball 33. Prosper Utseya finished with 1 for 58 and Kamungozi with 2 for 55.
Zimbabwe in their chase lost three early wickets to Lasith Malinga and Ruchira Perera as the batsmen couldn’t handle the movement and the bounce. The Zimbabweans were expected to be bundled out once again but Hamilton Masakadza and Brendan Taylor with their 30s had ensured that there was no embarrassment this time around. Taylor in particular was looking impressive with some beautiful backfoot cover drives off Farveez Maharoof. The pair had put on 63 for the 4th wicket before Taylor was cleaned up by Dilhara Fernando’s incoming delivery.
After Taylor’s exit, Zimbabwe lost wickets in a heap and it was simply nonsense cricket from then onwards. Tawanda Mupariwa who had joined his skipper Prosper Utseya was blocking each delivery without any purpose and the match was heading towards a late finish. The Sri Lankans were more troubled by all sorts of insects and moths that were getting onto them rather than the ultra defensive play from these two players. The 8th wicket partnership for Zims between Utseya and Mupariwa lasted for 76 deliveries before Murali could finally get Utseya to nick his straighter one to the slip fielder. Utseya had scored 20 from 45 balls. It took the Lankans 41 more deliveries to take the remaining two wickets with Tawanda Mupariwa getting bowled by Lasith Malinga after a heroic effort of 20 from 67 balls according to the Zim standards. Lasith Malinga was the most successful bowler with 3 for 25 and he has been quite accurate with his line and length. Dilhara Fernando was decent with 2 for 28 and Murali didn’t really enjoy bowling with the wet ball to finish with 2 for 20 in his 10 overs. Sri Lanka wouldn’t be happy with the 18 wides and 8 noballs bowled by them.
Upul Tharanga was the obvious choice for the Man of the Match and this youngster looks good for some more centuries in his career. This match has shown the effect of dew on the performance of the spinners and the fact that it becomes very easy to bat last once the dew sets in. So far we have had only one sided affairs but the main draw of the tournament will depend on the outcome of the toss as the dew is there to stay and make the best of the bowlers look ordinary!