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Zimbabwe won the toss and chose to bowl v Sri Lanka
Opening batsman Dilshan Munaweera made his debut for Sri Lanka in the first match of the World T20 against Zimbabwe. He was in the spotlight immediately after Zimbabwe captain Brendan Taylor asked Sri Lanka to bat on a pitch tinged with green in Hambantota.
Mahela Jayawardene was content with batting first, if only because, "the last few times we fielded first, the other side has won the matches." Sri Lanka welcomed back spinner Ajantha Mendis, who has not played international cricket since January and left out rookie Akila Dananjaya. Angelo Mathews and Thisara Perera were named as their two medium-pace allrounders.
Zimbabwe fielded two allrounders: Malcolm Waller and Elton Chigumbura to add to their three seamers. Brian Vitori, Kyle Jarvis and Chris Mpofu were all named in the starting XI, leaving out death-bowling specialist Richard Muzhange still waiting for his first international cap. Two frontline spinners, legspinner Graeme Cremer and offspinner, Prosper Utseya, made up the rest of Zimbabwe's attack, with no space for the veteran Ray Price.
Taylor made his decision based on the conditions and because it is, "always nice to know what we are going to be chasing." He accepted that Zimbabwe are clear underdogs but said they know they "don't have a hell of a lot to lose," in this tournament.
Sri Lanka: 1 Dilshan Munaweera, 2 Tillekeratne Dilshan, 3 Mahela Jayawardene, 4 Kumar Sangakkara, 5 Angelo Mathews, 6 Lahiru Thirimanne 7 Thisara Perera, 8 Jeevan Mendis, 9 Nuwan Kulasekera, 10 Lasith Malinga, 11 Ajantha Mendis
Zimbabwe : 1 Hamilton Masakadza, 2 Vusi Sibanda, 3 Brendan Taylor, 4 Craig Ervine, 5Malcolm Waller, 6 Elton Chigumbura, 7 Graeme Cremer, 8 Prosper Utseya 9 Kyle Jarvis, 10 Brian Vitori 11 Chris Mpofu
Opening batsman Dilshan Munaweera made his debut for Sri Lanka in the first match of the World T20 against Zimbabwe. He was in the spotlight immediately after Zimbabwe captain Brendan Taylor asked Sri Lanka to bat on a pitch tinged with green in Hambantota.
Mahela Jayawardene was content with batting first, if only because, "the last few times we fielded first, the other side has won the matches." Sri Lanka welcomed back spinner Ajantha Mendis, who has not played international cricket since January and left out rookie Akila Dananjaya. Angelo Mathews and Thisara Perera were named as their two medium-pace allrounders.
Zimbabwe fielded two allrounders: Malcolm Waller and Elton Chigumbura to add to their three seamers. Brian Vitori, Kyle Jarvis and Chris Mpofu were all named in the starting XI, leaving out death-bowling specialist Richard Muzhange still waiting for his first international cap. Two frontline spinners, legspinner Graeme Cremer and offspinner, Prosper Utseya, made up the rest of Zimbabwe's attack, with no space for the veteran Ray Price.
Taylor made his decision based on the conditions and because it is, "always nice to know what we are going to be chasing." He accepted that Zimbabwe are clear underdogs but said they know they "don't have a hell of a lot to lose," in this tournament.
Sri Lanka: 1 Dilshan Munaweera, 2 Tillekeratne Dilshan, 3 Mahela Jayawardene, 4 Kumar Sangakkara, 5 Angelo Mathews, 6 Lahiru Thirimanne 7 Thisara Perera, 8 Jeevan Mendis, 9 Nuwan Kulasekera, 10 Lasith Malinga, 11 Ajantha Mendis
Zimbabwe : 1 Hamilton Masakadza, 2 Vusi Sibanda, 3 Brendan Taylor, 4 Craig Ervine, 5Malcolm Waller, 6 Elton Chigumbura, 7 Graeme Cremer, 8 Prosper Utseya 9 Kyle Jarvis, 10 Brian Vitori 11 Chris Mpofu