Source: Reuters
- Sri Lanka 182/4 (Sangakkara 44, Jeevan Mendis 43*) defeated Zimbabwe 100 (Ajantha Mendis 6/8, Jeevan Mendis 3/24)
Summary:
Sri Lanka kicked off its campaign in perfect fashion with a dominant win over minnows Zimbabwe. In front of large crowd at the Mahinda Rajapaksa Stadium, the host were sent in to bat and on the back of partnerships between veterans Tilakaratne Dilshan, Kumar Sangakkara and Jeevan Mendis reached 182 of their allotted 20 overs. Despite making a reasonable start (37 runs without loss) Zimbabwe were never in the hunt and quickly collapsed under the spin onslaught from Ajantha and Jeevan Mendis.
Stats Watch:
- Ajantha Mendis's figures of 6 for 8 are the best ever recorded in a T20 International
- He is also only the second bowler, after Australia's Shaun Tait, to bowl two maiden overs in a T20 International
- Zimbabwe have now lost their past 13 T20 Internationals, dating back to 2010.
Who's Hot:
Sri Lanka: The Lankans will be happy that their key batsmen, Dilshan and Sangakkara got amongst the runs and scored them at a decent rate. The spin-twins Mendis hope that conditions remain as favourable as they were last night
Zimbabwe: Opening batsmen Hamilton Masakadza lasted longer than most scoring 20 runs, while bowler Prosper Utseya went for just 25 runs from his 4 overs
Sri Lanka: The Lankans will be happy that their key batsmen, Dilshan and Sangakkara got amongst the runs and scored them at a decent rate. The spin-twins Mendis hope that conditions remain as favourable as they were last night
Zimbabwe: Opening batsmen Hamilton Masakadza lasted longer than most scoring 20 runs, while bowler Prosper Utseya went for just 25 runs from his 4 overs
What it means:
Sri Lanka: All but assured qualification for the next stage, which means they can focus on fine-tuning their game. One thing they could look at is the running between wickets. 3 of the 4 wickets they lost came from run-outs.
Zimbabwe: Needs a miracle to get out of the group stage. Will have to win massively against South Africa and then hope results go their way.
The Votes:
MVP: 3 - A Mendis (6/8 can't argue with that), 2 - J Mendis (excellent performance with bat and ball), 1- K Sangakkara (runs with the bat and 2 stumpings)
Tucker Trophy: 1- M Jayawardene (slow start for Sri Lankan captain), 2 - C Mpofu (went for 49 off four overs), 3- B Taylor (Zimbabwe's leading player out first ball, starting the rot).
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