Zimbabwe 'A' crushed in second unofficial Test at Galle.

In truth the large margin of their defeat accurately reflects the gulf between these sides. Zimbabwe were comprehensively outplayed in all aspects of the game by an extremely talented young Sri Lankan side.

Speaking to CricInfo after the game Kevin Curran said: "It was disappointing from the very first day, when we won the toss in conditions that were very favourable for us, with a lot of grass and juice on the wicket. We should have had Sri Lanka five or six wickets down on that first day but failed to get the ball in the right areas often enough. It was just poor bowling."

"When we batted the wicket had dried out, so it suited us, but we didn't bat well apart from Craig Wishart, who batted magnificently and showed a lot of application. There were too many rash shots and it was just bad cricket on our part."

To comeback after such a crushing defeat will take a monumental effort from the Zimbabwean's. The Sri Lankan 'A' pool contains some very talented cricketers who are being ably coached by Hemantha Devapriya. All the players are in form and more importantly are showing a rapid rate of improvement.

The openers, Avishka Gunawardena and Pradeep Hewage, have both scored centuries and the middle order have all looked extremely comfortable against the somewhat limited bowling attack of the Zimbabweans. It's the fast bowlers though that have really impressed so far in this series and who posed the greatest threat to the batsmen in this innings.

Dinusha Fernando bowled excellently again this morning. The tall fast bowler, who plays his club cricket for Sebastianites CC, extracted bounce and movement from the wicket in the early overs; claiming the wickets of Donald Campbell (6), who was caught at second slip, and then Mark Vermeulen (0), who was brilliantly caught behind by Prasanna Jayawardena. Dinusha's morning spell: 2-2 off five overs.

Kaushalya Weereratne, who had consistently swung the ball throughout the match and looks certain to play international cricket in the near future, wasn't at his best this morning but this didn't matter as Dilhara Fernando produced his finest spell of the match.

For Sri Lankan standards Dilhara Fernando is a big man. Off the field he is a gentle giant, extremely amiable and friendly. However when bowling he was by far the most aggressive of the Sri Lankan's. Charging to the wicket and bowling with his powerful slingy action he hasn't been afraid to try and intimdate the Zimabawean's. He has bowled quick too. Today he forced the batsmen into evasive action on a number if occassions: Andy Blignaut just managing to fend off a delivery that appeared destined for his head.

Both teams now head for Matara where the final unofficial test match will be held on Thursday. Zimbabwe have a number of injury worries and are hoping that Everton Matambanadzo passes a fitness test tomorrow. Andy Blinaut looks doubtful after a recurrence of his back troubles. The Sri Lankan coach wants to play with the same XI but the selectors may well make changes to give others in the pool a chance.