Match report Zimbabwe v Sri Lanka 2003/04 2nd Test 1st day by John Ward

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Scorecard:

Zimbabwe v Sri Lanka

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Toss: Sri Lanka, to field
Lunch: Zimbabwe 87/3 off 26 overs (Ebrahim 28*, Taibu 2*).
Tea: Zimbabwe 184/6 off 59 overs (Ebrahim 70*, Nkala 2*).
Close: Zimbabwe 228; Sri Lanka 18/0 off 13 overs (Atapattu 7*, Jayasuriya 11*).

 

It was a warm, sunny day in Bulawayo as Marvan Atapattu won the toss and put Zimbabwe in to bat on what appeared to be an excellent batting pitch. It is doubtful whether he would have done so against stronger opposition, but in his position he probably decided it would be the best plan to split the two Zimbabwe innings rather than have to make decisions about enforcing the follow-on and committing his team to bowling out Zimbabwe twice in succession. Such reasoning can breed overconfidence, but the present Zimbabwe team is probably unable to take advantage should it be so.

 

Again openers Stuart Matsikenyeri and Brendan Taylor failed to inspire confidence at first as they struggled against left-armers Chaminda Vaas and Nuwan Zoysa. Taylor in particular looked nervy and almost ran himself out in Vaas’s second over. In the fourth over, from Zoysa, Matsikenyeri recorded the first boundary as he chopped the ball past point. He continued aggressively, driving Vaas for four and three in his fourth over.

 

Taylor never looked comfortable, and made only 5 in 38 minutes before he played back to a short ball from Vaas without getting across properly and walked for a catch to the wicket; 24 for one. Matsikenyeri continued to bat like a millionaire, lashing Zoysa over backward point for another four, one bounce, but he lost Mark Vermeulen on his return to Test cricket, driving Vaas low to mid-off before he had scored. Zimbabwe were 31 for two.

 

Matsikenyeri greeted Farveez Maharoof to the bowling crease with another slash over backward point to the boundary, and then over the covers for four, taking him to 31 off 39 deliveries, out of 40. Then came a slower period, as Dion Ebrahim settled in, hitting a couple of sketchy boundaries, and Sri Lanka’s bowlers tightened up and they put their field back.

 

Matsikenyeri still played the odd quality drive, but ran himself out unnecessarily on 45. Muttiah Muralitharan came on to bowl 20 minutes before lunch, concentrating exclusively on off-breaks, with his doosra under suspicion. Matsikenyeri drive him firmly to Maharoof at deepish mid-on and set off for a single, but the fielder scored a superb direct hit on the stumps. Matsikenyeri instinctively veered away as he completed his run, and consequently was found just short of the crease. Zimbabwe were 82 for three.

 

Dion Ebrahim had settled in well, despite a couple of edgy shots early on, and batting positively. Tatenda Taibu, celebrating his 21st birthday, came in next and the pair batted through to lunch, though Ebrahim was dropped off a difficult low chance to the keeper just before the interval.

 

Afterwards Taibu went for his shots, starting with a superb off-drive for four and then concentrating mainly on the sweep and the cut. Sri Lanka gave him a birthday present when the keeper missed a difficult chance off Muralitharan, and both batsmen played Murali well, often playing with the spin to drive or push him wide of mid-on. The Sri Lankan bowlers began to look very ordinary as the pair showed good discrimination and played their strokes.

 

Sri Lanka sat back and played more defensively in the field, with their bowlers getting no response from the pitch. It paid dividends, as Taibu drove Maharoof uppishly into the covers and departed for 27; 134 for four.

 

Ebrahim was stuck on 47 for quite some time before he swept Murali fine for four to reach his ninth Test fifty. Murali got a few balls to turn sharply, but he was decidedly less than inspired and the batsmen were able to take a steady flow of runs off him with due caution. Alester Maregwede hit Sanath Jayasuriya for a huge six over long-on and the pair were going well when the team’s running between wickets let them down again.

 

Ebrahim turned Murali behind the square-leg umpire towards Jayasuriya, while Maregwede called for a quick single. Ebrahim called urgently to him to wait, but he kept running and was left stranded as the throw went directly to the bowler’s end. He departed for 24, a promising innings nipped in the bud, and Zimbabwe were 176 for five. Without addition Vaas moved the ball away from new batsman Elton Chigumbura who edged it to second slip.

 

On such a good pitch Zimbabwe were in a poor position, and much depended on Ebrahim, 70 not out at tea. But afterwards he failed to add to his score in a further 15 minutes and he too edged into the slips, off Maharoof. He had played a gritty anchor innings, invaluable, but his departure was a crucial blow to Zimbabwe’s hopes.

 

Tinashe Panyangara, promoted in the order, seemed to have a charmed life. He escaped the unusual mode of dismissal, stumped by the wicketkeeper standing back to Zoysa, when Prasanna Jayawardene threw down the stumps as Panyangara stretched forward defensively and mussed. Umpire Rudi Koertzen turned down the appeal, but the replay showed his back foot apparently on the line and not over it. Later in the over the batsman was dropped in the slips.

 

He then settled down and hit two handsome boundaries, while Mluleki Nkala at the other end also played some commanding strokes. The talent is there, but at present there remains a great difference between shadow and substance. Panyangara made 11 when he tried to pull Zoysa and skyed a simple catch to mid-on; 211 for eight.

 

Tawanda Mupariwa came in to a warm reception from his home crowd, which numbered perhaps just over 200. Murali came on again at the far end and Nkala decided to take him on: the first ball he pumped through point for four and the second he swung right into the hands of Kumar Sangakkara on the midwicket boundary. He made 19; Zimbabwe were 216 for nine.

 

Hondo played a brief entertaining innings of 11 before he drove excitedly at a flighted delivery from Murali and was bowled through the gate, leaving Mupariwa unbeaten with a single. The total was 228, an improvement on their Harare efforts but likely to be inadequate on such a sound pitch against strong opposition. Vaas, with three for 41, was the most successful bowler, while there were two wickets each for Murali and Maharoof.

 

Sri Lankan openers Atapattu and Jayasuriya, even the latter who is renowned as a dasher, clearly had survival in mind as they scored only 18 runs in the 13 remaining overs of the day. Accurate bowling by Hondo and Panyangara, particularly the latter, helped to keep the runs down, and in fact only 8 runs came off the first 8 overs. It was a quiet and incident-free ending to the day.

 

(Article: Copyright © 2004 John Ward)