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SL win 3 - 0 SL gains 17 points; ZIM loses 17 points
Draw 1.5 -1.5 ZIM gains 5 points; SL loses 5 points
ZIM win 3 - 0 ZIM gains 28 points; SL loses 28 points
Colombo
27 - 30 December 2001
Zimbabwe won the toss and elected to field first.� During the crucial first session Zimbabwe was unable to hold two chances and Sri Lanka went to lunch at 0 for 67.� Zimbabwe managed to dismiss Atapattu (25) during thew afternoon session.� However, when showers forced an early tea, Sri Lanka was gathering momentum with the score 1 for 142.� Sri Lanka lost Jayasuriya (92) and Jayawardene (18) during the evening session and when bad light stopped play, Sri Lanka held the upper hand with 3 for 211.
Sri Lanka extended their advantage on the second morning despite losing some wickets.� Zimbabwe dismissed Arnold (13), Sangakkara (128) and Tillakaratne (96) during the extended session and at lunch Sri Lanka was 5 for 338.� The match slipped further from Zimbabwe's grasp during the afternoon session as the home side took the total to 6 for 461at tea with only the loss of Tillakaratne (96) during the session. Sri Lanka eventually declared at 6 for 586 with Samaraweera (123*) and Vaas (74*) the two not out batsmen.� Streak was the most successful bowler with 3 for 113 off 34 overs.� This left Zimbabwe with a nasty period of eight overs to face before stumps.� During this time they lost Masakadza (3) and ended the day at 1 for 14.
Sri Lanka pressed their advantage hard on the third morning by dismissing Carlisle (10), Gripper (30) and Rennie (35) to have Zimbabwe 4 for 100 at lunch.� The chances of reaching the follow target of 387 runs disappeared after lunch when Sri Lanka dismissed Grant Flower (0), Wishart (21), Andy Flower (42) and Friend (6) to leave Zimbabwe 8 for 166 at tea.� Brent (0) and Olonga (4) left Streak (26*) stranded when the innings finished at 184 runs shortly after tea.� Sri Lanka was left with a lead of 402 runs and immediately enforced the follow on.� Sri Lanka then dismissed Masakadza (28) and Gripper (10) to have Zimbabwe 2 for 64 at stumps, needing another 338 runs to force Sri Lanka to bat again.
Zimbabwe showed stubborn resistance for the first hour of the fourth morning, but then lost Carlisile (32), Rennie (4) and Andy Flower (10) before staggering to lunch at 5 for 125. Sri Lanka continued to move toward an inevitable victory by dismissing Friend (44) and Grant Flower (18) before rain appeared to give some limited hope to Zimbabwe and force an early tea break. However, the rain, like the Zimbabwe batsmen in this Test, had no staying power and play got underway again during the evening session. Sri Lanka ran through the tail and dismissed Wishart (27), Brent (7) and Olonga (0) to end the Zimbabwean second innings for 236 runs while Streak remained unbeaten on 36. Sri Lanka had defeated Zimbabwe by an innings and 166 runs with Muralitharan the best of the bowlers with 4 for 35 off 36 overs.
Second Test
Kandy
04 - 07 January 2002
Zimbabwe won the toss and elected to bat first.� After seeing out most of the first hour, Zimbabwe lost Gripper (20), Masakadza (10), Rennie (0) and Andy Flower (8) to Muralitharan.� At lunch, Sri Lanka was on top with the tourists at 4 for 71.� Zimbabwe staged a recovery after lunch, but Muralitharan struck twice more, removing Carlisle (20) Wishart (26) and Streak (1) as Zimbabwe went to tea at 7 for 159.� The afternoon session was shortened due to rain.� However, there was enough time for Muralitharan to dismiss Marillier (8) and Grant Flower (72) and at stumps, Zimbabwe was reasonably placed at 9 for 234 with Muralitharan having taken 9 for 51 off 39 overs.
Murilitharan was unable to take the tenth wicket when Sri Lanka quickly finished off the Zimbabwe innings for 236 runs on Olonga's (18) dismissal. Friend was left stranded on 29 runs while Murilitharan finished with 9 for 51 off 40 overs. Sri Lanka raced through the remaining morning session to be 2 for 111 at lunch, having lost Atapattu (9) and Sangakkara (42) after he stepped on his stumps. Sri Lanka almost erased the Zimbabwe lead during the afternoon session. Zimbabwe missed a number of chances after lunch but then trapped Jayawardene (56) in front while Jayasuriya posted his ninth Test century. At tea, Sri Lanka was 3 for 233. Zimbabwe eventually dismissed Jayasuriya (136) during the evening session while dropping Tillakaratne when he was on 12. At stumps, Sri Lanka was in control at 4 for 334 with a lead of 98 runs.
Zimbabwe struck early on the third morning to dismiss Tillakaratne (37), Samaraweera (17) and Arnold (71).� However, Sri Lanka moved the lead to 175 at lunch when the score was 7 for 411.� The Sri Lankan tail proved harder to dismiss and Zimbabwe only took the wicket of Fernando (45) just before the tea break.� At tea, Sri Lanka had extended their lead to 267 runs with the score 8 for 503. Zimbabwe ran out Zoysa (4) straight after tea and then bowled Muralitharan (0) to dismiss Sri Lanka for 505 runs with Vaas (72*) the not out batsman.� Grant Flower (3 for 66 off 28 overs) and Friend (3 for 97 off 26 overs) shared the bowling honours.� Zimbabwe began to erase the 269 run deficit by losing Masakadza for a first ball duck and Carlisle (9) to be 2 for 16. Later Gripper (21) was trapped in front and at stumps, Sri Lanka was on top with Zimbabwe at 3 for 68 needing another 201 runs to avoid an innings defeat.
Sri Lanka kept the pressure on Zimbabwe during the fourth morning and they took the key wicket of Andy Flower (11) early in the session. The wickets of Rennie (68) and Wishart (3) followed while Zimbabwe added 107 runs to reduce the deficit to 120 runs. However, the liklihood of erasing the deficit was receding with only four wickets remaining. As it happens, it took Sri Lanka only an hour to dismiss Streak (1), Marillier (8), Grant Flower (72) and Olonga (18) leaving Friend (29*) the not out batsman. In all, Zimbabwe was dismissed for 236 leaving them defeated by an innings and 94 runs. Muralitharan (4 for 64 off 26.4 overs) and Fernando (4 for 27 off 12 overs) shared the bowling honours for Sri Lanka.
Third Test
Galle
12 - 15 January 2002
Sri Lanka won the toss and elected to bat first.� Tight bowling by Zimbabwe earned them the wicket of Jayasuriya (28) and restricted the Sri Lankans to 1 for 78 at lunch.� Zimbabwe had some success during the afternoon session in dismissing Atapattu (50) and Sangakkara (29).� However, Sri Lanka added 101 runs and at tea were 3 for 175.� Sri Lanka started to take control after tea and took the total to 222 runs before Zimbabwe made a breakthrough when Jayawardene (76) was caught and bowled by Grant Flower.� This triggered a mini collapse as Tillakaratne (3) and Arnold (40) were both caught behind as Sri Lanka lost 3 for 14 runs.� At the end of the day, the Tests was evenly balanced with Sri Lanka 6 for 243 with only one recognised batsman at the crease.
Zimbabwe dismissed Vaas (8) in the first half hour of the second morning at 7 for 254.� However, despite holding Sri Lanka to just 47 runs in the session, Zimbabwe was unable to take any further wickets and at lunch, the score was 7 for 290.� The pace increased slowly after lunch as Zimbabwe continued to have trouble against Chandana and Samaraweera.� The pair batted through to tea and took the score to 7 for 383 as the Test continued to slip away from Zimbabwe.� Finally, after a partnership of 146 runs, Chandana (92) was caught and then Samaraweera (76) was run out as the resistance subsided.� Fernando (1) was the last man out leaving Muralitharan not out on 5 for an innings total of 418 runs.� Marillier was the best of the bowlers with 4 for 101 off 34.4 overs.� With about an hour of play remaining, Zimbabwe scored at one run per over to be 0 for 18 at stumps.
The Zimbabwean openers batted through the third morning without Sri Lanka breaking through to be 0 for 91 at lunch.� Sri Lanka struggled to make any inroads during the afternoon session where, again, slow scoring was able to keep wickets in tact.� Zimbabwe took the total to 153 before late in the session Gripper (83) was stumped and two balls later new batsman Wishart (1) was trapped in front.� At tea, Zimbabwe was 2 for 155.� The hour after tea allowed Sri Lanka to increase their advantage in this Test.� They dismissed Carlisle (64), Rennie (7) and Andy Flower (6) within the space of 18 runs to have Zimbabwe 5 for 171, still 48 runs short of the follow on target.� Zimbabwe fought back in the hour before stumps and took the total past the follow on target without losing further wickets.� At stumps, the score was 5 for 230, still 188 runs in arrears, but with a draw opening up as a possibility.
Sri Lanka started the fourth morning by dismissing Grant Flower (19) at 6 for 232 with the first ball.� Zimbabwe then collapsed and lost their remaining four wickets for four runs to be all out for 236.� Muralitharan (5 for 67 off 58.3 overs) and Jayasuriya (5 for 43 off 29 overs) shared the bowling honours for Sri Lanka, with the former passing 400 Test wickets in the process.� Sri Lanka added 59 runs to their first innings lead of 182 runs when lunch was taken.� Zimbabwe dismissed Jayasuriya (36) and Sangakkara (56) during the afternoon but this did not slow the run rate below five runs per over as Sri Lanka prepared for a declaration.� Once Atapattu (100*) had raised his hundred Sri Lanka declared at 2 for 212 off 41 overs leaving Jayawardene also not out on 17.� This left Zimbabwe with a final innings victory target of 395 runs or to bat out 125 overs to secure a draw.� They did neither.
Zimbabwe lost the wickets of Gripper (3) and Wishart (7) in the first hour after tea.� However, in the following 90 minutes Zimbabwe was bowled out by the final over of the days play for a meagre 79 runs.� Only Carlisle (28) and Marillier (15) passed seven runs.� Jayasuriya (4 for 31 off 18 overs) and Muralitharan (4 for 24 off 16 overs) again shared the bowling honours as Sri Lanka won by 315 runs to record their second successive clean sweep of a Test series.
