LIVE - Sri Lanka v Zimbabwe: Tillakaratne Dilshan, Upul Tharanga maul the Rhodesians
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Zimbabwe-c3045 being played at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium in Sri Lanka.
The hosts managed to score 143 runs without losing any wicket half way through their innings.
Zimbabwe captain http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Elton-Chigumbura-c55937 elected to field first after winning the toss. He made the decision considering the dew factor, which is expected to affect the team bowing second.
However, the decision proved to be a wrong one, as Tillakaratne Dilshan and Upul Tharanga gave a blistering start to the Sri Lankan innings. The wicket was flat and the ball did not do a lot. The same deck gave good support to the bowlers in the first-ever
match of the venue which was played between http://www.senore.com/Cricket/New-Zealand-c754 on Tuesday.
Dilshan smashed the visitors to all parts of the park in the first 10 overs as the score reached 77 without a wicket. His partner Tharanga also batted well and rotated the strike over to his aggressive teammate.
The flamboyant batsman scored his half-century from just 43 balls. He struck 8 fours and one massive six in the process. On the other hand, Tharanga took his time to settle down and reached his fifty off 67 balls, including 6 fours.
Both players started playing sensible cricket as soon as the spinners came into the attack. Zimbabwe have their strength in bowling and both the batsmen were fully aware of it.
The home team will be quite happy with the start given to them by their openers. They will be eying a massive total in order to dominate the match completely. There is a lot of batting still to come for the hosts, and they may take the batting Powerplay
as early as in the 34th over, when the mandatory ball change takes place.
On the other hand, Zimbabwe will look to take a few quick wickets, especially of Dilshan and Tharanga. However, it will not be easy for the Rhodesians to bounce back from this stage.
Ray http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Prosper-Utseya-c82728 will have to come up with something special in order to stop the Sri Lankan Lions’ assault.
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