Quick wickets give Sri Lanka control

Zimbabwe stumble as Taylor exits
Quick wickets give Sri Lanka control

Muttiah Muralitharan

Brendan Taylor and Regis Chakabva emulated the feat of Sri Lanka's openers and added a century stand for Zimbabwe's first wicket, setting the stage for an improbable shot at the target of 328. Taylor was at the forefront of the pursuit, combining orthodoxy and innovation during an aggressive half-century, while Chakabva held firm at the other end, until Muttiah Muralitharan's doosra fooled his defences. The dismissal of Taylor in the 25th over, however, was a severe blow to Zimbabwe hopes and Sri Lanka steadily took control of the chase.

Sri Lanka's pace-heavy attack was uncharacteristically off target at the start, the fielding was unexpectedly lax, and it was Lasith Malinga's lacklustre performance that set the tone. He struggled to control the new ball, bowling several wides, and Taylor pounced on the loose deliveries. Taylor flicked a low full toss to the backward square leg boundary, pushed a wide one through covers and chipped a short one over Kumar Sangakkara's head. There was only touch in those shots, no power, and he made Malinga's pace do all the work.

Nuwan Kulasekara was harder to score off, his sharp offcutters and inswing troubling Chakabva, and it wasn't until the 10th over that Taylor attacked him, lofting down the ground and over midwicket. The partnership could have ended in the 13th over, with Taylor on 48, but his attempted flick off Thisara Perera resulted in a leading edge towards third man that was dropped by Malinga. He had earlier misfielded a cut of Chakabva as well.

Taylor got to his fifty off 39 balls and carried on batting aggressively. Murali came on in the 16th over after the bowler Powerplay was completed, and in the 20th, he spun a doosra on to Chakabva's off stump. Tatenda Taibu was bent on reverse-sweeping Murali whenever he could, and got away with it. He didn't get away with edging Angelo Mathews though, and Sangakkara dived to his right to take the catch inches off the ground.

Those two wickets set back Zimbabwe's chase considerably, and Taylor's wicket was a hammer blow. On 80, he chipped a slower ball from Mathews straight to midwicket and with him went Zimbabwe's best chance.