Zimbabwe got off to a shocking start, in the very first over bowled by Zaheer Khan there was a loud appeal for lbw against Dion Ebrahim. Umpire Asoka de Silva consulted the third umpire Steve Bucknor, and de Silva gave Ebrahim out for a duck. From the TV replays the only conclusive thing that the third umpire must have seen is that the ball pitched in line with the stumps, but one would have thought the ball was slipping down the leg.

Andrew Flower came out and played some lovely square drives and cuts against Zaheer Khan and Ashish Nehra. Flower had two lucky escapes though, first when he was on 15 – Nehra at fine leg fence put down a miscued hook; then next was a tough chance, when on 28, to Dinesh Mongia diving to his left failing on to hold on the catch.

Alistair Campbell scratched around for 49 mins, facing 26 balls to make just eight runs. It was almost like what Chanderpaul did against South Africa in yesterday’s game. Campbell was put out of his misery by Zaheer Khan, Yuvraj Singh making no mistake of the catch at backward point.

Flower has been very positive all through this innings. It is quite remarkable that Andy Flower scores all those runs against India. He welcomed the introduction of Anil Kumble with a flowing cover drive for four, and immediately in the following over by Harbhajan Singh, Flower spanked yet another cover drive for four.

Ganguly has used six bowlers so far and can afford to witch around his bowlers as Zimbabwe find the run rate is steadily climbing. The pitch is still a very good one to bat on and they key would be the number of wickets Zimbabwe have with them in the final ten overs to go for the final chase.

Earlier, just when Rahul Dravid and Mohd Kaif were going on gathering runs without the slightest problem at sight, India lost a wicket against the run of play. Going for a needless run, Rahul Dravid (71 off 81 balls, 6 fours) was run out by a direct hit from Stuart Carlisle.

Dravid had pushed the ball to mid-wicket and rushed for the single, Carlisle’s throw was spot on and Dravid was run out by quite a distance. Umpire Asoka de Silva was not too sure and immediately consulted the third umpire. The yellow lights flashed as Dravid kept walking towards the pavilion, convinced that he was out.

When the confirmation came from the third umpire and Asoka de Silva put up his finger, Dravid was waiting by the boundary line. That ended a 117-runs sixth wicket partnership between Dravid and Kaif, which ensured that the India score went above the 200-runs mark.

Kaif’s previous innings for India was in that famous victory at Lord’s in the NatWest Trophy final against England. The youngster had proved his value then; for someone who averages above 50 in ODI’s, and thrives under pressure, the situation could not have been more perfect.

Kaif played sensibly to make his 50 off 70 balls with just one boundary in it. After the dismissal of Dravid, Kaif took the center stage – playing some amazing strokes. The bowlers took severe punishment – as Kaif unleashed a variety of strokes.

Guy Whitall was pulled to the square leg fence for four, Grant Flower was hoisted over mid-wicket for a huge six, he unleashed couple of strokes that Douglas Marillier has made his own – boundaries to the fine leg fence, and in the final over Hondo took severe punishment – belted to the mid-wicket fence for a couple of boundaries.

Zimbabwe might be ruing the couple of missed opportunities, especially Andy Flower missing an easy chance to run out Kaif, then on 80, failing to collect the ball cleanly. Hondo finished with the figures of 9-1-62-4.

Hondo managed to do one better than what he achieved in Kochi, picking up four wickets in his first spell (7-1-45-4) destroying the Indian top half. At one stage India were 87/5 off 13.2 overs.

Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly struck three boundaries, two of them were stylish square drives off Hondo, and Virender Sehwag smashed couple of crisp drives off Heath Streak as India reached to 25 for no loss in three overs.

Then struck Douglas Hondo, removing Ganguly (13) and Dinesh Mongia (0) in the same fashion, caught by Alister Campbell at first slip.

Sachin Tendulkar walked out to big cheers from the crowd that has been building up slowly through the afternoon. Tendulkar looked a bit subdued, while Sehwag decided to go on top gear. If the crowd had expected Tendulkar to play some rousing strokes, it was Sehwag who played the strokes guaranteeing the crowd maximum entertainment.

Sehwag punished any delivery that was even slightly short of a length; there were the powerful square cuts that sounded the boards at the point boundary regularly.

With runs flowing at an unbelievable rate, mainly from Sehwag’s bat, Hondo struck again in the 10th over; Tendulkar playing away from his body was caught by Alistair Campbell at first slip for just 7. India were in big trouble at 67/3 at that stage. Zimbabwe players must have surprised themselves by watching this shocking batting display by the Indian batsmen.

If that was not enough, 20-year-old Sean Ervine picked up the priced wicket of Sehwag (48 off 36 balls, 8 fours) – caught behind by Andy Flower.

Hondo was not done yet; the medium pacer with ‘Ruud Gullit style’ hairdo was in ecstasy, after picking up the wicket of the wicket of Yuvraj Singh (3) brilliantly caught – diving low to his right by Ervine at second slip.

After having lost five wickets in he first 14 overs, it was left to the best Indian batsman these days - Rahul Dravid. He steadied the ship with Mohd Kaif, almost rotating the strike at will.

At the end of 25 overs, India are slowly building up after the initial shocks, they are 146/5. Rahul Dravid is closing in on his fifty, unbeaten on 44 with half a dozen boundaries. Mohd Kaif is giving the India vice captain good support with 23 not out.

It is a hot and humid afternoon in Colombo and the weather should stay good through the duration of the game. There was a threat of rain last night, and all it turned out to be was a heavy drizzle for a little while.

India have left out VVS Laxman, Ajit Agarkar and Jai P Yadav from their squad. Zimbabwe have left out Friend, Mbangwa and Taibu.

It definitely looks like a good batting track and some early pyrotechnics can be expected from the strong Indian batting line up.

Zimbabwean attack looks a bit thin without Travis Friend, but then, Heath Streak is an experienced campaigner and not to forget Douglas Hondo who wrecked India when the two teams met in Kochi early this year.

The teams are as follows:

India team: *SC Ganguly, V Sehwag, D Mongia, SR Tendulkar, +R Dravid, Yuvraj Singh, M Kaif, Harbhajan Singh, Z Khan, A Kumble, A Nehra.

Zimbabwe team: DD Ebrahim, ADR Campbell, GW Flower, +A Flower, SV Carlisle, GJ Whittall, *HH Streak, DA Marillier, Douglas T Hondo, SM Ervine, RW Price.