Sri Lanka beat Zimbabwe by six wickets in their first of the five on day internationals played in Harare today. Put into bat, the home team made 127 all out in 31 overs with Tatenda Taibu making a top score of 36 not out.
Muttiah Muralitharan came out with an impressive spell of 4 for 14 to be adjudged man of the match. In reply, Sri Lanka reached the target in 33.2 overs with Kumara Sangakkara making an unbeaten 46. Chamara Kapugedara failed once again and made only 16 runs. The second ODI between the two teams will be played at the same venue on Saturday.
Chief scores: Zimbabwe – 127 allout in 31 overs (Tatenda Taibu 36 n.o, Ajantha Mendis 3 for 26, Muttiah Muralitharan 4 for 14).
Sri Lanka: 130 for 4 in 33.3 overs (Mahela Udawatte 38, Kumar Sangakkara 46 n.o, Mahela Jayawardene 15, Chamara Kapugedara 16, Ray Prince 2 for 24).