Vaas and Murali rout Zimbabwe

Sri Lanka 139 for 1 (Jayantha 74*) beat Zimbabwe 136 (Vaas 4-38, Murali 4-32) by nine wickets
Scorecard

The harsh realities of international cricket caught up with the new, enthusiastic but very raw Zimbabwe team, as Sri Lanka overwhelmed them by nine wickets shortly after lunch in the second one-day international at Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo. It was Chaminda Vaas who set the ball rolling by taking the first four Zimbabwean wickets, and then a dominating innings of 74 not out from Saman Jayantha sealed the match with 29.4 overs to spare.

It was men against boys. After Zimbabwe had been bowled out for 136, Sanath Jayasuriya and Jayantha plundered the hapless Zimbabwean seamers, producing an array of dazzling strokes including a sliced six over cover by Jayasuriya off Hondo. The shell-shocked bowlers were quite unable to find their line and length, and their only breakthrough came on the stroke of lunch, when Jayasuriya (31) grew a little over-confident and skyed the suffering Tinashe Panyangara to mid-off (84 for 1).

The scoring rate slowed for a while as Marvan Atapattu settled in, but with the dominant Jayantha still going strong, there was no repeat of Tuesday's close encounter. Zimbabwe's bowlers were totally outclassed, and only Prosper Utseya, who conceded 11 runs off his 17 balls, could claim to have escaped severe punishment. The Zimbabwean bubble, apparently, had been well and truly burst.

On a hot, sunny morning, Sri Lanka won the toss for the second match running and again put Zimbabwe in to bat. Their opening partnership lasted a mere four balls. There was not a run on the board when Vusi Sibanda moved awkwardly across his stumps and was trapped lbw by a delivery from Vaas that straightened. His opening partner Brendan Taylor, who is generally more comfortable off the front foot, struggled for two runs in 29 minutes before fending a short ball from Vaas into the slips (20 for 2).

Vaas was bowling superbly. He removed Dion Ebrahim for 16, via a gloved catch to leg gully, and Elton Chigumbura for a duck, as he drove a low catch to short extra cover. At 27 for 4 the situation looked bleak, and much rested once again on Tatenda Taibu. A couple of his early strokes bore a hint of desperation, but he was not prepared to let the bowlers call the tune.

Taibu received good support from his former schoolmate, Stuart Matsikenyeri, although they relied mainly on drives and quick singles, as the Sri Lankans gave them little to pull or cut. But the partnership came to a disappointing end as Taibu swept Jayasuriya, tried to take a second run to a misfield, and was caught just short of his crease by an accurate return from the substitute fielder Rangana Herath. He made 35 and Zimbabwe were 76 for 5.

After that, it was a steady decline for Zimbabwe. Matsikenyeri was stumped for the second match running, as he charged down the pitch to Muttiah Muralitharan for 18, while Alester Maregwede made 10. He hit Murali for a six over long on, but was deceived next ball and trapped lbw by a top-spinner.

Utseya drove Murali for six to record his first runs in international cricket. He went on to make a creditable 25 not out, and shared a lively ninth-wicket partnership of 26 with Douglas Hondo, who was eventually given out lbw by a massive spinner from Muralitharan that hit him on the back pad.

Vaas returned to finish off the innings, but Murali did the job for him, despite being treated with considerable confidence by youngsters who perhaps were less aware of his reputation than many of Zimbabwe's batsmen of the past. Apart from that pair, Sri Lanka's bowling looked rather thin, but in this match it scarcely mattered.