LONDON, Sept 14: Sri Lanka set up a Pool D decider against England in the ICC Champions Trophy with a four-wicket win over Zimbabwe here at The Oval on Tuesday.
Set 192 to win in 50 overs the Sri Lankans finished on 195-6 with 6.1 overs remaining but were made to work hard throughout by a spirited Zimbabwe side.
And in Elton Chigumbura the Zimbabweans look to have unearthed a star of the future as the 18-year-old, playing in only his eighth One-day International, hit a half-century, took 3-37 and a catch.
It was another 18-year-old, Tinashe Payangara, who struck first having Avishka Gunawardene caught brilliantly at slip by Mark Vermeulen to leave Sri Lanka 4-1. Douglas Hondo ripped out the other opener Sanath Jayasuriya before Saman Jayantha unleashed a barrage of shots to make 36 from 41 balls as he tried to get Sri Lanka's net run-rate above England's.
Their failure to finish the game in 27.5 overs means that if Friday's game against England in Southampton is washed out England will advance to the semifinals. Jayantha perished when he drove Chigumbura to extra cover and Sri Lanka were 54-3.
Marvin Atapattu batted steadily for 43 before he became Chigumbura's second victim and the favourites were starting to wobble by the time Mahela Jayawardene was trapped leg before by Chigumbura for 28 Sri Lanka were 162-6.
But Tillekeratne Dilshan showed a steady nerve to guide his side home with 25 not out and Upul Chandana made 20 not out. Nuwan Zoysa and Farveez Maharoof were the stars of the Sri Lankan bowling effort taking 3-19 and 3-38 respectively.
Zoysa took his 100th One-day International wicket when he had Panyangara caught at mid-off to add to the scalps of Stuart Matsikenyeri and Dion Ebrahim. Maharoof, a former under-19s captain who has just turned 20, bowled with pace and hostility for his three wickets as Zimbabwe struggled at the start of their innings.
However some good lower order batting from Chigumbura (57) and Prosper Utseya (31) propelled Zimbabwe from 120-7 to their eventual 191. Zoysa reached 100 ODI wickets when he had Panyangara caught at mid-off by captain Marvin Attapatu, innings.
The youngster took 2-6 in six balls at one stage getting rid of Mark Vermeulen for 17 and Zimbabwe captain Tatenda Taibu for a dogged 16. The ball that got rid of Taibu was a beauty, rearing up at the diminutive keeper and kissing his glove as he attempted to get his hands out of the way.
Sangakkara took an athletic catch behind the stumps to leave Zimbabwe 85-6. But a partnership of 64 between Chigumbura and Utseya for the eighth wicket upped the tempo and took Zimbabwe comfortably past the 147 they scored in their first match against England.
SCOREBOARD
ZIMBABWE:
B.R.M. Taylor c Chandana b Maharoof 13
S. Matsikenyeri c Sangakkara b Zoysa 16
V. Sibandac Jayawardene b Vaas 9
D.D. Ebrahim c Chandana b Zoysa 3
M.A. Vermeulen c Sangakkara b Maharoof 17
T. Taibu c Sangakkara b Maharoof 16
E. Chigumbura lbw b Chandana 57
T. Panyangara c Atapattu b Zoysa 8
P. Utseya c Jayawardene b Chandana 31
D.T. Hondo not out 0
E.C. Rainsford b Jayasuriya 3
EXTRAS (B-4, LB-8, W-3, NB-3) 18
TOTAL (all out, 49.1 overs) 191
FALL OF WKTS: 1-23, 2-43, 3-47, 4-61, 5-76, 6-85, 7-120, 8-184, 9-188.
