Brave Start by Zimbabwe ‘A'

In scorching heat the Zimbabwean captain won the toss and elected to bat on a damp wicket at P. Saravamuttu Stadium in Colombo today. It was a brave and confident decision when one considers the watering of the wicket yesterday morning and the was heavy overnight rain. Gus Mackay's faith in his batsmen was paid off as Zimbabwe batted patiently in the morning, taking the score to 71-1 at the lunch interval.

As is traditionally the case at the P.Sara Stadium, the ball moved prodigiously for the first hour of play and all the BCCSL XI seamers looked dangerous. Prabath Nissanka, returning from an ankle injury that he sustained in the U19 World Cup, lacked direction in the early overs and took some time to find his rhythm. His opening partner, Charitha Buddhika, however bowled splendidly, moving the ball both ways off the seam whilst consistently maintaining a good length.

During the first hour the Zimbabwean openers, Neil Ferreira and Gavin Rennie, primarily looked to defend. Just when it seemed that that they were going to surface unscathed from the first hours play Kaushalya Weeraratne replaced Prabath Nissanka and immediately struck, dismissing an unlucky Gavin Rennie for 6 runs.

Gavin Rennie, one of Zimbabwe's main batsmen on this tour, was desperately disappointed to be given out, when the ball appeared to have just flicked his pads on the way to young wicket keeper, Prasana Jawardena. Nevertheless the wicket brought to crease, Mark Vermeulen, who changed the tempo of the Zimbabwean innings.

Tall and upright in his stance Vermuleun adopted a positive approach from the start, taking the attack to the Sri lankan bowlers whenever they overpitched. When spin was introduced in the form of Niroshan Bandarathilaka he immediately grasped the initiative with a well struck boundary through the legside.

At lunch Vermulen had progressed to 37 off 58 balls (4x4) and his patient partner, the left handed Neil Ferreira, had scored 18 off 84 deliveries. With the pitch now drying quickly and conditions becoming perfect for batting, Zimbabwe have a great opportunity to set a competitive target.