Zimbabwe found themselves in the unfamiliar position of going into the third match of the Micromax Cup 2010 as favorites: their victory over India was very convincing; Sri Lanka were bruised after their own chastening loss to India; and Zimbabwe know their home conditions better than anyone. Add to the mixture Zimbabwe's slow-but-sure progression in climbing the cricket ladder, and Sri Lanka resting experienced players to test out youngsters, and the stage was set for another giant-killing.
The rain almost ruined the whole party, delaying the start of the game for hours. Once the downpour abated, there was enough time for a 26-over slog. Winning the toss, Tillekeratne Dilshan made the easy choice of bowling first. Under pressure to post a challenging total in quick time in difficult batting conditions, Zimbabwe lost their hero of the India game, Brendan Taylor, for just 2. Apart from Hamilton Masakadza, none of the other batsmen found their groove. Craig Ervine, who batted so fluently against India, scored just 7 off 20 balls. Charles Coventry struck the second 6 of the innings, but perished trying to repeat the attempt. Masakadza hit the only other boundaries for Zimbabwe, four 4s and a 6 giving him the team's highest total of 62 - but Coventry's 11 was the next highest contribution, and Zimbabwe collapsed to 118 all out. Suraj Randiv lead the charge with three wickets, while Ajantha Mendis and debutant Jeevan Mendis took two apiece.
Sri Lanka had two motivators as they faced the Zimbabwean bowlers: one, save face after the loss to India; and two, defeat Zimbabwe quickly enough to earn a bonus point and go to the top of the league table. With Dilshan relinquishing the wicketkeeping gloves to Dinesh Chandimal, and without the pressure of setting a total or chasing down a large score, the captain returned to his swashbuckling best. The Zimbabwean bowlers erred by bowling too wide or too short, giving Dilshan and Tharanga good batting practice. Tharanga was run out for the second successive game, but his 40 was enough to take the game away from Zimbabwe. Dilshan made his second consecutive half-century, slashing his way to 60 off 45, as Sri Lanka reached their target with 64 balls remaining. Typically, the winning runs came off a wild wide from Christopher Mpofu.
So Zimbabwe find themselves in familiar territory after their exemplary win against India. Fortunately for them, the series now moves to Harare, which should offer the better weather and batting conditions that played a role in their victory. The loss to Sri Lanka is a setback, but a necessary experience if they are to prove their worth as a world-class cricket team again. Sri Lanka will be relieved that they bounced back well after their defeat to India, and in such a way that they now lead the points table with 5 points, while Zimbabwe and India have 4 apiece. Going into the second stage of the tournament, each team has 1 win and 1 loss, setting up a very interesting race to the final game.