The solo

Chaminda Vaas may have long since surrendered childhood aspirations to become a Catholic priest but in the eyes of some Sri Lankan fans he still remains a candidate for sainthood after his record-breaking exploits in December.

The 27-year-old left-arm swing bowler produced the Sri Lankan solo performance of the year at the Sinhalese Sports Club, when he became the first bowler to take eights wickets in a one-day international, as Zimbabwe were bowled out for 38 in a lightning two hour contest.

Rain in the preceding days had left a suggestion of moisture in the pitch and Sri Lanka had no hesitation in bowling first. But this was by no means a seamer's paradise. Vaas's success was the result of unrelenting accuracy, banana-like swing and canny variations.

Vaas's demolition job started with the very first ball of the match, played out in front of a small and sleepy post-election crowd, when he trapped Dion Ebrahim lbw, the first of five right-handers to be caught on the hop by his trademark in-dippers.

The Flower brothers were dismissed within four balls: Grant bowled through the gate and Andy caught behind off a peach of an outswinger. Run scoring came to a juddering halt, as the batsmen tried to weather the storm, but when Stuart Carlisle decided the time had come for more affirmative action, the ball sailed helpfully into the mitts of third man. Two balls later, after some more befuddled pad play, an ecstatic Vaas was being mobbed by his team-mates, having pulled off a hat-trick - a first for Sri Lanka in one-day cricket.

That was not the end either. Vaas had spent too many long hours in the gym recovering from a succession of career-threatening injuries to give up his moment of glory and retire gracefully to the outfield. A gathering assortment of curious onlookers, including the title sponsors' cheerleaders, who hadn't bargained for such an exhausting morning's work, watched as Vaas implored one more lbw decision out of umpire Gamini Silva and whistled out Mluleki Nkala with a straight one, before Murali, somewhat meanly, stepped in to take two wickets in four balls to deny him all 10.