Sri Lanka v Zimbabwe

At East London, March 15, 2003. Sri Lanka won by 74 runs. Toss: Sri Lanka.

The tangled story of black and white in southern Africa once again had a sad impact on the cricket field as Andy Flower said a premature goodbye to international competition. As so often, his dismissal changed the tone of Zimbabwe's chase from cautious optimism to resignation. After a brief but brutal opening partnership and some authoritative nurdling from Flower, they needed 117 from 130 balls, with seven wickets left. But, on 38, Flower got the woodiest of inside edges on to pad, only to be given lbw. He was aghast, Zimbabwe's self-belief evaporated, and the last six tumbled for 32, giving Sri Lanka's win a flattering veneer. Needing victory to reach the semi-finals, their strategy - accumulate, preserve wickets, bash - was simple and, on a sluggish pitch, Zimbabwe had neither the firepower nor the finesse to disrupt it. Atapattu did the accumulating, finding gaps and running hard throughout the innings, Sangakkara the bashing - 35 in 25 balls - as Sri Lanka added 73 in the last eight overs. The match ended with a scene out of John le Carré, when Henry Olonga was spirited to a safe house amid rumours that a seven-man snatch squad from Zimbabwe's secret police had arrived. He too announced a sad, and premature, retirement.

Man of the Match: M. S. Atapattu. Attendance: 6,380.