Sri Lanka crawl to four-wkt win over Zim

Having sent Zimbabwe packing for 191, the Lankan chase was set back by early loss of their openers.

Sri Lanka overcame a stubborn performance by Zimbabwe to register a four-wicket win in the Group D league match of the ICC Champions Trophy one-day cricket tournament at the Oval on Tuesday.

Having sent Zimbabwe in and bowling them out for a modest 191, the Lankan chase was set back by early loss of their openers and some fine bowling by the young African team.

But the 1996 World Cup winners were bailed out by a steady innings of 43 by captain Marvan Atapattu and a 42-run fifth-wicket stand between him and vice-captain Mahela Jayawardene (28) to be home with 37 balls to spare.

Zimbabwe, who lost their other group match to hosts England, are now out of the reckoning for the semifinal berth which will be decided between England and Sri Lanka when they clash at Rose Bowl, Southampton, on Friday.

Despite the loss, the young bunch led by 20-year old Tatenda Taibu can take heart from today's performance.

Eighteen-year old Elton Chigumbura stood out with his allround talent. He smacked the Sri Lankan bowling without fear for a sparkling 57 off 71 balls with six fours when his team batted in gloomy and overcast conditions.

The Zimbabwean total, which was 85 for six at one stage, owed very much to Chigumbura who also shared a vital 64-run partnership with Prosper Utseya for the eighth wicket.

The Mashonaland player then returned to scalp three for 37 -- all prize scalps of Atapattu, Saman Jayantha and Jayawardene -- to put the skids on the Lankan chase.