Chevrons, Sri Lanka in no result

Mehluli Sibanda in BULAWAYO
A HEAVY downpour yesterday morning forced the abandonment of the fourth triangular One Day International cricket contest between Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka at Queens with the encounter concluding in a no result. The no result left Zimbabwe, still to win in three attempts, rooted to the bottom of the three-team log standings with four points while second-placed Sri Lanka and table-toppers West Indies are on seven.

Zimbabwe must now conquer West Indies in their last preliminary fixture on Friday while praying that the Calypso Kings conquer the Sri Lankans when the visitors clash tomorrow.

Zimbabwe had stumbled their way to 55 for the loss of two wickets in 13.3 overs before the downpour forced the umpires to stop play.

After a series of inspections by the on field umpires Langton Rusere and Michael Gough, the match officials made a call that some wet areas on the outfield were not safe for the recommencement of play.

So bad is the situation in that if there is another heavy downpour again and the area close to the boundary on the Airport End is not protected by covers the remaining three matches in the series including Sunday’s final will have to be scrapped.

After Zimbabwe captain Graeme Cremer had called correctly at the flick of the coin time and opted to bat, their innings got off to a dreadful start, losing their first wicket with 20 runs on the board in the fifth over, Chamunorwa Chibhabha trapped lbw by Nuwan Kulasekara to walk for eight off 15 balls.

During the first Powerplay which is the opening 10 overs of the innings with fielding restrictions, Zimbabwe only managed to score 40 runs, at four runs per over.

Confusion between the Zimbabwean batsmen saw Brian Chari being run out for 11 runs going for a run which was never there before his batting partner Craig Ervine sent him back, Kusal Mendis throwing in the ball from mid wicket to wicketkeeper Nirosha Dickwella to complete the dismissal.

Heavy rains brought a delay to the match with Zimbabwe on 55 for two in 13.3 overs, Ervine on 23 runs with his batting partner Sikandar Raza on four.