SRI LANKA v ZIMBABWE

At Sharjah, February 3. Sri Lanka won by 30 runs. Toss: Sri Lanka. International debut: N. Ranatunga.

If rain had not deprived Sri Lanka of their final seven overs, Zimbabwe would have been hard-pressed to keep their total under 300. Openers Mahanama and Hathurusinghe shared 112 in 84 minutes, and their middle order carried on the good work. Arjuna Ranatunga, whose brother Nishantha became the third of the family to represent Sri Lanka, passed 3,000 runs in his 115th limited-overs international.

Faced with scoring 6.20 an over, Zimbabwe went down bravely. They lost Grant Flower and Arnott in Ramanayake's first spell, and Houghton and Briant were run out. The recovery from 85 for six was thanks largely to a maiden international fifty from Brandes, whose previous best was 23.

Man of the Match: E. A. Brandes.