A brief history ...

Zimbabwe have played Sri Lanka regularly since their admission to the international fold in 1992, in all forms of the game. After a close Test series in 1994-95, Sri Lanka dominated with ten wins in 12 matches, and are yet to lose. ODIs have followed a similar pattern with Zimbabwe winning only six out of 37 - and none of those victories have come since the start of the mass exodus of leading players in 2004.

	In an otherwise completely dreadful series in 2003-04, Muttiah Muralitharan provided one highlight when he passed Courtney Walsh's record of 519 Test wickets © Getty Images

1994-95

in Zimbabwe
Although Zimbabwe were Test cricket's newcomers, Sri Lanka, coming in to the series on the back of some serious hammerings, adopted a defensive approach from the off and a dull three-match series played on flat pitches failed to produce a result. David Houghton proved at 37 he remained a top-class batsman with 466 runs at 155.33, including Zimbabwe's first double hundred. Sri Lanka won the one-day series, but in neither format were attendances remotely good, with the best crowd being the 1000 who turned up for the deciding one dayer.
Tests: Zimbabwe 0 Sri Lanka 0 Drawn 3
ODIs: Zimbabwe 1 Sri Lanka 2

1996-97

in Sri Lanka
A miserable first tour for Zimbabwe who lost all four games in the Singer Cup and followed with two innings defeats in the Tests, Sri Lanka's first. The absence of Houghton was a blow, and Zimbabwe's batsmen were completely undone by the spin duo of Muttiah Muralitharan (14 wickets) and Jayantha Silva (13) .
Tests: Sri Lanka 2 Zimbabwe 0 Drawn 0

1997-98

in Sri Lanka
The second tour in as many years was every bit as one-sided as the first in terms of the result but they extended both games into a fifth day and actually threatened briefly to win the second match. Houghton, by now coach, earned himself a fine and a suspension for his views on the local umpiring in that game's last sessions. The ODI series was far less competitive as Sri Lanka engineered three well-paced run chases to complete a whitewash.
Tests: Sri Lanka 2 Zimbabwe 0 Drawn 0
ODIs: Sri Lanka 3 Zimbabwe 0

1999-2000

in Zimbabwe
Back on home soil, Zimbabwe proved more resilient but still lost the three-match Test series by virtue of defeat in the second match at Bulawayo, the only game not seriously affected by the weather. An incident there, when Murray Goodwin was run out in controversial circumstances, led to a rapid disintegration in relations between the sides and Zimbabwe's players picked up a swathe of fines. They also lost the one-day series 3-1.
Tests: Zimbabwe 0 Sri Lanka 1 Drawn 2
ODIs: Zimbabwe 1 Sri Lanka 3

	Chaminda Vaas poses after taking 8 for 19 at Colombo in December 2001. Zimbabwe were bowled out for 38 © Cricinfo

2001-02

in Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka maintained their 100% home record in Tests against Zimbabwe with a rousing 3-0 win. It could not have been more one-sided, with Sri Lanka running up totals in excess of 400 in all three Tests, while the best Zimbabwe could offer was 236 - bizarrely, they offered it once in each game. Their best performance was in the final Test, at Galle: even then, they let Sri Lanka recover from a faltering 254 for seven to 418, and collapsed from 153 without loss to the inevitable 236. They lost that game by 315 runs, to follow two thrashings by an innings. On the entire tour, they lost nine matches and won only one, against West Indies in the one-day series preceding the Tests. Their worst humiliation occurred during that same tournament, when Chaminda Vaas took 8 for 19 to dismiss them for 38, the then lowest total in any one-day international.
Tests: Sri Lanka 3 Zimbabwe 0 Drawn 0

2003-04

in Sri Lanka
Possibly Test cricket's nadir, and one which left the ICC's rhetoric about the ethos of Test cricket in shreds. The series was in doubt until the last minute as Zimbabwe's board was at war with its leading players and so fielded a woefully unprepared 2nd XI. "It was a travesty of international cricket from beginning to end," Wisden reported. The ODI series was a rout, the lowlight coming in the third match when Zimbabwe were dismissed for 35, leading to splenetic rant from a senior official that the pitch had been doctored to show up the new-look side. If so, Sri Lanka found few demons in it. Sri Lanka amassed 541 in the first Test, winning by an innings and 240 runs, and then 713 for 3 in the second, with world records theirs for the taking before boredom took over. The ICC could bury its heads in the sand no longer. It stepped in to safeguard the Australian tour that followed from similar abuse of international status; the Zimbabwe board then agreed to postpone those Tests, before they could be stripped of their official standing. But by that time the Sri Lankan series had become a part of cricket history that could not be revoked.
Tests: Zimbabwe 0 Sri Lanka 2 Drawn 0
ODIs: Zimbabwe 0 Sri Lanka 5