Simmons slams his charges

Zimbabwe's coach Phil Simmons blasted his side after their meek surrender to Sri Lanka in today's Paktel Cup match at Rawalpindi. Zimbabwe reached 54 for 1, but then lost their last nine wickets for only 50 runs to be all out for 104, a total Sri Lanka knocked off without any trouble. The match was all over in just over half the allotted overs for the day.

"We played terribly today," admitted Simmons, the former West Indian allrounder. "We are taking two steps forward and one step backward. We give a good performance in one match, get complacent and undo the good work."

The young Zimbabwean side did well in the second match of this three-team tournament at Peshawar, scoring 252 for 4, a total Pakistan overhauled with only 11 balls to spare. But today's game was a different story, as Sri Lanka's bowlers shared the wickets around: only Stuart Matsikenyeri, with 37, and Dion Ebrahmim (24 not out) reached double figures. Tatenda Taibu, their hard-pressed young captain, warned: "We must not commit the same mistakes."

Simmons may have blamed complacency, but Marvan Atapattu, Sri Lanka's captain, said his team was anxious to avoid the same problem: "It was a comfortable win, but we are taking every game with the same level of intensity so we put in our best."

The same two teams meet again at Rawalpindi on Monday: Zimbabwe need an unlikely victory, by an even more unlikely wide margin, to stand any chance of reaching the final against Pakistan - a day/night game at Lahore next Saturday (Oct 16).