Marvellous Marvan: Atapattu Defies Zimbabwe In First Test

The Zimbabweans were convinced they had trapped Marvan Atapattu lbw to Guy Whittall just after he had reached his fifty on the second day. Television replays seemed to uphold the view that it was a very good shout, and had the umpire's finger gone up the course of the First Test match in Bulawayo might have been very different.

Atapattu went on to become the first batsman to score two double-centuries against Zimbabwe, following his 223 in Kandy two years ago. No other batsman reached 50, the closest being captain Sanath Jayasuriya with 49, and Atapattu finished by scoring just over half his team's total, 216 out of 428. Had that crucial decision gone Zimbabwe's way, or had a couple of difficult half-chances been accepted, the match would have been very evenly balanced, possibly in Zimbabwe's favour.

Overall, though, it was an encouraging performance by the Zimbabwean team, who looked much more confident against the Sri Lankans. As Alistair Campbell said frequently during his time as captain, the main reason why Zimbabwe so often underperformed was lack of confidence, which can only be gained by winning. The team is clearly more confident against the Sri Lankans than the powerhouses of Australia and South Africa, and the greater self-belief was always evident.

The Zimbabwean players were looking forward to this match in Bulawayo, expecting an easier pitch than some of those they have encountered in Harare recently, and they were not disappointed. Noel Peck produced his usual masterpiece, a very good batting pitch but just giving a little help to bowlers who worked hard on it. Of course, Muralitharan was able to spin the ball sharply at times, as he is reputed to do on virtually any surface. The Sri Lankan pace attack is, by international standards, no more than useful, and for the Zimbabwean batsmen it was like a holiday away from the world-class pacemen of Australia and South Africa with their arrays of slip fielders.

Zimbabwe made two changes from the team that lost so heavily against South Africa a few days before. They decided to strengthen their bowling, having opted to play an extra batsman against the strong Australian and South African pace attacks, so Trevor Gripper, who had not played a major innings since his 60 against Australia, went out and Gavin Rennie moved back to open the batting, while Andrew Whittall came in. Pommie Mbangwa had bowled quite well in Harare and was probably unlucky to lose his pace, but Gary Brent had been in such fine form recently that the selectors opted for him, perhaps also swayed by his superior batting.

Luck once again tended to go the way of the opposition. Zimbabwe lost the toss again, but this time it did not matter. There was a layer of dry grass on the pitch that persuaded the Sri Lankans to put Zimbabwe in to bat; Andy Flower had planned to do that anyway had he won. But the grass gave little help to the pacemen.

Again Zimbabwe seemed to get the worst of the umpiring decisions, although they probably enjoyed a slice of luck when Andy Flower was given not out while in the thirties. Sent back when pursuing an unlikely single off Murray Goodwin's bat, it appeared that he might have been beaten by a brilliant throw from Jayasuriya. A frustrated Ian Robinson, third umpire in this match, was unable to get a clear enough view of the replay on his monitor and so had no option but to declare Flower not out. The batsmen still managed two of their now habitual run-outs, though, with Alistair Campbell and Guy Whittall the victims this time. True, both were to brilliant pieces of fielding, but clearly Zimbabwe still have not yet got their running right. Gavin Rennie might also have gone the same way early in the innings, when Grant Flower changed his mind over a quick single, but the throw this time was inaccurate.

Apart from that, the players were disappointed with the umpiring, as Rennie, Brent and Andrew Whittall, together with Grant Flower in the second innings, were all given out to debatable decisions, and they felt that more than once Sri Lankan batsmen were given the benefit of the doubt which they had not received. But in the end Zimbabwe perhaps did receive a generous dose of luck when rain washed out the match. One hopes that they would have managed to save it without help from the weather, but in the end the rain did make a Sri Lankan victory impossible.

Zimbabwe's batting has not yet come right, by any means, but there was evidence of improvement. Their first three batsmen to be dismissed were all out in the teens, failing to build on a good start, although Rennie looked unlucky. There were several soft dismissals as well, and evidence again of failure to get behind the line of the ball and play with a straight bat. One-day habits such as fishing outside off stump are not being discarded easily.

Goodwin and Andy Flower held the first innings together with a fine partnership, and Flower also batted with superb determination second time round. One wonders if captaincy is not having an effect on his keeping, though, as he missed a few half-chances, none of them easy, during the Sri Lankan innings. This would hardly be surprising as he has so much more on his mind in the field, and it is a relief that he is still able to bat as well as he did in this match. He had not looked as secure as usual in the earlier Tests of the season, but in this match he once again looked immovable. Goodwin, though, was furious with himself for twice getting tricked into a fatal pull shot during the match, though only after scoring a fine fifty in the first innings.

The bowling, still without Heath Streak who may well miss the entire series now, was not strong but it was disciplined and persevering. Jayasuriya for one will not be sorry that Streak is unable to play, as many times in the past he has fallen victim to him early in his innings. For much of the time Brent was the best of the bowlers, with his accuracy and movement off the seam, and he deserved more than his two wickets. The ground fielding rarely faltered, but there was a number of half-chances that were not taken.

Muralitharan undoubtedly appears the most dangerous bowler on either side in this series, although Henry Olonga is always a potential match-winner if he can get his rhythm together on a helpful pitch. The Zimbabwe second innings was in the balance at one stage as Neil Johnson and Andy Flower were together, and Muralitharan was particularly troubling Johnson. For a while Andy tried to shield his partner from the off-spinner, but in the end Johnson found his own solution, lashing Murali for three fours in an over, and from then on looking in control as he ran to his fifty.

Matabeleland is justly proud of the Queens Sports Club ground, which was rated very highly by the Australians in particular, but it was sad to see so few spectators. Part of the reason was the poor weather after the first hot sunny day, especially over the weekend, but Test cricket has rarely been well supported there, in contrast to the one-day game. Not that things are much better in Harare. Somewhere there must be better ways to market Test cricket. As things are, most Zimbabwean cricket-followers seem content with a junk-food diet of one-day internationals.