Close Sri Lanka 243 for 6 (Samaraweera 8*, Vaas 2*)
scorecard

Sri Lanka lost three important wickets in the final hour of the first day's play at Galle, as Zimbabwe restored their self-respect with a battling performance. Nevertheless, with Muttiah Muralitharan on the brink of history, needing just five more wickets to become the youngest and quickest bowler to reach 400 in Tests, the true interest in this match was being reserved for another day.

Zimbabwe, though, will not care a jot for that fact. They were utterly outclassed in the first two Tests and no-one expected them to turn it around here. But throughout the day, they put up the sort of fight that used to be their hallmark, and Sri Lanka, Mahela Jayawardene excepted, were never allowed to settle.

Grant Flower and Doug Marillier, with two wickets apiece, were the pick of Zimbabwe's bowlers. They maintained a disciplined line throughout the day, on a pitch as dry and cracked as a batsman's brow, furrowed with worry at the prospect of facing Muralitharan. Each time Sri Lanka's potent batting line-up threatened to cut loose, they were on hand to provide the big wickets.

Sri Lanka had sailed to 74 for 1 at lunch, for the loss of Jayasuriya; in the hour that followed, the waters turned choppy. Marvan Atapattu, whose sacking for the second Test had brought down the entire Sri Lankan selection committee, had justified his team-mates' faith with a typically circumspect half-century. But four balls later, Atapattu pulled at a short ball from Flower, and Gavin Rennie completed a fine catch at mid-on (107 for 2). Kumar Sangakkara didn't last much longer. Some of his earlier strokeplay had made the spinners look pedestrian, but he played on to Marillier for 29 (125 for 3) and trudged back defeated.

Mahela Jayawardene steadied the ship, batting sublimely to add 97 for the fourth wicket with Russel Arnold. But just as complacency might have been setting in, Sri Lanka ran into a further squall in the final hour. With the score on 222, Jayawardene mistimed a tired drive and was caught-and-bowled by an exultant Flower.

Marillier nipped in to remove the dangerous Tillekeratne for 3 (229 for 5), caught behind gloving an attempted sweep, and with three overs of the day remaining, Heath Streak struck with the new ball, inducing a faint edge from Arnold (236 for 6).

Despite the anticlimax that followed Sanath Jayasuriya's decision to bat first, it was a fine day of ebb-and-flow Test cricket, albeit tempered by visions of what Murali might get up to later in the match.

Teams
Sri Lanka 1 Sanath Jayasuriya (capt), 2 Marvan Atapattu, 3 Kumar Sangakkara (wk), 4 Mahela Jayawardene, 5 Russel Arnold, 6 Hashan Tillekaratne, 7 Thilan Samaraweera, 8 Chaminda Vaas, 9 Muttiah Muralitharan, 10 Charitha Buddika, 11 Upul Chandana.

Zimbabwe 1 Trevor Gripper, 2 Dion Ebrahim, 3 Stuart Carlisle (capt), 4 Gavin Rennie, 5 Andy Flower (wk), 6 Grant Flower, 7 Craig Wishart, 8 Heath Streak, 9 Travis Friend, 10 Doug Marillier, 11 Henry Olonga.

Andrew Miller is on the staff of Wisden.com.

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