Lunch Sri Lanka 77 for 0 (Tharanga 53*, Karunaratne 23*) trail Zimbabwe 356 (Ervine 160, Waller 36, Herath 5-116) by 279 runs
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By the time Upul Tharanga brought up his half-century off 64 balls, he had hit seven fours and a six © AFP
Upul Tharanga’s delectable half-century led Sri Lanka’s response to Zimbabwe’s 356, as a Khettarama pitch remained flat through the morning session on day two. Having been frustrated by Craig Ervine and the lower order through the latter half of the opening day, Sri Lanka reclaimed a little control in this session. The two Zimbabwe wickets they required cost only 12 runs, and came in 28 deliveries – Rangana Herath completing a 30th five-wicket haul. By lunch, Sri Lanka had sailed to 77 and lost no wickets of their own.
Tharanga’s innings began rapidly, though this was the result of sublime timing, rather than manufactured aggression. The second ball he faced – from Donald Tiripano – was driven handsomely through the covers. Soon after, he hit successive fours off Chris Mpofu, and then repeated the dose in Tiripano’s next over, creaming him backward of point, then down the ground. In a flash he was 26 off 14 deliveries, before the innings was even five overs old.
The introduction of spin would temper his advance, but on occasion, he would still slink out of his crease with a view to hitting the ball to the straight fence. Sikander Raza was deposited over long-on, but otherwise Tharanga was largely content with collecting singles and twos.
Full report to follow…
Andrew Fidel Fernando is ESPNcricinfo’s Sri Lanka correspondent. @andrewffernando
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Source: ESPN Crickinfo