Zimbabwe slump to 154 on green Harare pitch

Sent in to bat on a green and slightly damp Harare surface, Zimbabwe lasted only 41.3 overs, leaving Sri Lanka a target of 155 to win the opening match of the tri-series. With the surface offering sideways movement as well as bounce, the seamers ran through the top order, leaving Zimbabwe 50 for 6. They were in danger of falling short of 100 for the fifth time in ODIs against Sri Lanka, but Peter Moor and Graeme Cremer prevented that eventuality with a seventh-wicket partnership of 56.

Moor fell for an aggressive 47 containing four sixes, while Cremer, who moved the total past 150 with some help from Donald Tiripano and Tinashe Panyangara, was left stranded on 31. Making his ODI debut, the allrounder Asela Gunaratne finished as Sri Lanka's most successful bowler, picking up three lower-order wickets with his medium-paced offcutters.