Zimbabwe are a very good one-day side, says Ganguly

There was no trace of pressure on Ganguly's face as a smiling India skipper addressed the media after his team had pulled off a 14-run victory over Zimbabwe in a high-scoring game in their opening match of the ICC Champions Trophy played at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo.

Playing under lights, the Indian bowlers stuck to the task, even though they were being mauled by the best batsman in the African continent, Andy Flower.

Ganguly paid rich tributes to the left-handed master batsman from Zimbabwe: "Andy is always the danger man against India."

The Indian skipper also said that: "It was always going to be a tough ask for Zimbabwe to chase 288 runs. We always had the run rate under control. Scoring 10 runs an over batting second is not always easy.

"I thought we bowled pretty well in this game. Zaheer bowled fantastically. Nehra bowled very well except one over in the end. We could have had better effort from our spin bowlers. It is a flat wicket and I thought we did a pretty good job.

"This was a great performance. We travelled a long way and the guys are really tired," he said.

Talking about the remaining games in this tough group which also features England, Ganguly was of the opinion that the game on Wednesday between Zimbabwe and England is going to be a close one, "Zimbabwe are a good one-day side."

Man of the Match award winner Mohammad Kaif was happy to have played a big part in yet another Indian victory. He was instrumental in India winning the NatWest Trophy this English summer, and he rates the innings at Lord's as his best so far.

When asked about his success batting at No 7, Kaif said: "It is just a matter of how you prepare yourself back home when you practice in the nets. I have been practising a few shots and that came off very well."

He added: "I thought it was a very good wicket to bat on. No 7 is a tough number to bat for any batsman."

Zimbabwe skipper Heath Streak sounded positive despite the defeat.

"Andy and Grant put together a good partnership in the middle, and then Guy Whittall and Andy. We probably missed out in the middle when we tried to get a couple of big overs in," he said.

"We always knew it is going to be a challenge in the first 15 overs, we got breakthroughs today, but just couldn't restrict them. Especially when Sehwag got away good shots through the off-side field."

Looking forward to the big game against England, Streak said: "We have got to play well against England on Wednesday. That is our first objective. Being in a strong group opens things up a bit. It is good to be in a strong group and hopefully we can play a good game against England."