Group B: Sri Lanka v Zimbabwe commentary

Cheers for now A fantastic century from Mahela Jayawardene is what will be remembered from this game with little else to talk about, thanks in a large part to the rain. The Sri Lankans are still in the tournament and Zimbabwe will have to upset the Kiwi's to have any chance of progressing. Thanks for joining us and hopefully we will have better luck with the England West Indies match to follow.

17.04 GMT Result - Sri Lanka have won by 14 runs thanks to the Duckworth/Lewis method.

17.02 GMT The rain has stopped and the ground staff are trying to deal with the excess water hanging around the outfield. It is most likely that it's tickets already for this particular game, with the English players already out warming up for the next game against the West Indies.

Rain Disappointing to only get the minimum amount of overs required to constitute a match, and because of the England West Indies game to follow there is plenty of cricket threatened here. We will once again let you know when developments take place. Sri Lanka will take two points from the game if no more action is possible, which to be honest looks unlikely at this stage.

Over 5 Randiv 2-1-1-1-0-1 29-1 - The Duckworth-Lewis par score after five overs is 44, so the batting side clearly behind. The rain is now starting to fall again and we official have a result if the players are forced to leave the field. Which they are! The weather is spoiling the action again! Covers are being brought on and play suspended. As it stand Sri Lanka are winners.

Over 4 Jayasuriya 2-2-1-1-1-1 23-1 - No boundaries yet in this innings, the batsmen will have to go now. Jayasuriya the specialist bowler is into the attack. 81 needed from 42 balls with dark clouds still looming.

Over 3 Mendis 1-1-0-1-1-1 15-1 - The wicket not the end of the world with so few overs left, what's hurting Zim more is the dot balls and singles. Taibu is a decent player but power is not his strength, what can his partner Taylor produce? Two more overs will assure us of a result. 89 required from 48 balls.

Over 2 Malinga 2w-0-1-1-1-W 10-1 - Malinga starts badly with a wide, raising Zim hopes from the start, but then a silly run out does for Masakadza and the Zimbabweans have lost their first wicket. Taibu was running to the danger end for the second and called, but got no response from his partner, Masakadza stranded.

Game on again One more detail, fielding restrictions will be in place for just three overs. Do Zim have the firepower to get this target? And how is Kumar Sangakkara going to split his bowlers up?

Revised Target 104 The new target is 104 and there are 11 overs to get it. One bowler gets to bowl three overs while the rest will have a maximum of two. The shorter sprint for victory will suit Zimbabwe.

Scheduled Restart 16.21 GMT The restart has been scheduled and it's going to be an 11 over shootout. We'll let you know the revised target as soon as it has been made known.

16.14 GMT All the covers have been removed rather rapidly and the Sri Lankan players are out warming up, trying to will the game back into progress as soon as possible. We should be back in action shortly.

16.06 GMT Some hope! The rain has stopped and the covers are being pealed away. There are still a few clouds around but the light is much improved. We'll keep you informed with any further progress.

Covers on The rain has started to fall and the covers are on. Sri Lanka will be keen to get back out there as soon as possible while the Zimbos won't mind the game being reduced by a few overs. We'll keep you updated as soon as play resumes, but until then it's a wait on the weather.

Over 1 Mendis 0-1-0-1-1-1 4-0 - Sangakkara unsurprisingly chooses to open with spin. It's a good start from Mendis and openers Taibu and Masakadza negotiate it safely enough.

Unusual scenes The players are out on the ground, but there is confusion with umbrella's out in the crowd and the covers ready to come on with the weather looking threatening.

Sri Lanka 173/7 Zimbabwe will rue a missed run-out chance in the fifth over because Jayawardene went on to hit a marvellous hundred. He gave them an excellent start which meant there was never really any pressure even when Sri Lanka lost wickets, and on this pitch they'll feel that defending this total will be a breeze. Zimbabwe need Chigumbura to go nuts.

Over 20 Mpofu 1-2-1-0-1-2lb 173-7 - Sanath Jayasuriya is a pretty handy man to have coming in at number eight, and he and Lasith Malinga have the opportunity to swing at Mpofu in the final over. Mpofu manages to get his length nice and full though, so there are no boundaries. Although two leg-byes from the final delivery was a great result given that the ball looped off Jayasuriya's pad to Taibu (who wasn't wearing proper pads in this innings - behind the stumps.

Over 19 Price 1-6-1lb-1-W-W 166-7 - This is a very large score for this ground, even if the wicket looks rather better than the one on Friday. Kapugedera muscles one back over Price's head for six, and then Jayawardene goes to his century (63 balls, 10x4s, 4x6s) - the fourth in Twenty20 international history. I would argue that it's the finest of the lot, because his strokeplay has been exquisite - I can't remember a slog at all. Wickets! Kapugedera brings Sri Lanka back down to earth by holing out to deep square leg though, and then Jayawardene follows him back to the pavilion as he takes on long-on but is caught by Cremer, who is about eight yards off the rope.

Over 18 Mpofu 0-1-1lb-6-0-1 157-5 - This seems like a very bad idea after Mpofu's opening over, but Zimbabwe need at least an over from their seamers so he returns. Chamara Kapugedera whips a low full toss over the rope at backward square leg, but is banged on the helmet by a bouncer next up. The ball loops straight to Price at short third man but there are no appeals because there was no bat involved. All in all a decent over.

Over 17 Lamb 1-W-1-4-4-1 148-5 - Wicket! Ladies and gentlemen, we have our first piece of boundary catching brilliance in the tournament. Lamb lofted one up and Mathews looked for all money to have cleared deep midwicket only for Craig Ervine to leap up and take the ball with both hands way above his head. What was most remarkable was that he landed with such balance when it looked like his momentum would take him over the boundary. Mathews pulled off one like that in last year's tournament but looks disbelieving. Of course none of that prevents Jayawardene from grabbing consecutive fours later in the over with some sublime ingenuity.

Over 16 Cremer 6-2-0-0-4-1 137-4 - Cremer has been impressive so far, but at the beginning of this over you know he's about to be tested because it's time for Sri Lankia to get a move on. Sure enough Jayawardene gets hold of the first one and deposits it over cow corner, before dabbing the second deftly past short fine leg for a couple. An easy pick-up off leg stump results in four more behind square on the leg side.

Over 15 Utseya 1-1-wd-1-2-1-0 124-4 - Jayawardene has been slowed by some decent bowling and the regular loss of batting partners, but these two are clearly setting themselves for a final push. At the current rate they'll end up with 170 but if they both stick around then 190 is certainly on the cards.

Over 14 Cremer 1-0-0-0-wd-1-1 117-4 - As a full-on wrist spinner, Cremer is getting more turn than the other spinners and he's also giving the ball plenty of flight. Even in this sort of form Jayawardene isn't willing to take him on so it's another cheap over.

Over 13 Utseya 0-1-wd-4-1-6-W 113-4 - Lamb is replaced by Utseya, and second ball of the over he drops the simplest of chances at long-on to hand Chandimal a life. The batsman makes full use of it by coming down the pitch when he's back on strike to hammer Utseya back over his head for six. Wicket! His happy-go-lucky approach finally catches up to him though as he holes out to long-off from the final ball of the over. In between all of that Jayawardene played an exquisite cut shot, crouching in his stance to angle it away just behind square.

Over 12 Cremer 2wd-W-0-1-0-0-1 100-3 - Wicket! Graeme Cremer measures out his run-up by leaving nothing to chance - rather than taking steps, he measures it out putting one heel in front of the other toe. After starting with a wide the legspinner strikes, and it's a fairly soft dismissal - he started with a long-hop which Sangakkara tried to pull but instead got a top edge straight to short fine leg. The rest of the over is much better than the first two deliveries, and Dinesh Chandimal and Jayawardene pay it due respect.

Over 11 Lamb 1-2-2-2-1-0 94-2 - Jayawardene gets a couple in the slot but can't find the boundary as deep midwicket gets round to cut both of them off. There's also a cheeky late cut that he gets away fine for a couple more, so the scoreboard continues to tick over quite comfortably.

Over 10 Utseya 2-0-1-1-1-1 86-2 - Utseya is proving he's learnt a lot since coming into the side at an early age. He's giving the ball plenty of flight, and although there's not much turn he's bowling nice and straight to limit the batsmen's options. Nevertheless Sri Lanka look on track for 160-plus, which on this pitch is a big score.

Over 9 Lamb 1-6-0-W-0-0 80-2 - Wicket! Perera decides he's not going to dally about - it's all or nothing. He comfortably clears long-on with his first attempt, but his second is flatter hit and Chigumbura runs around from cow corner to puch a very good catch on the boundary. That brings Sangakkara to the crease, and Zimbabwe will know this a partnership they need to break early.

Over 8 Utseya 2-0-1-1-1-1 73-1 - The skipper Utseya comes on, and a fumble from Masakadza at long-on allows Perera to pinch a second. Jayawardene clips out to deep midwicket for a single to bring up a superb half-century (27 balls, 6x4s, 3x6s), but Utseya's done well to limit the batsmen to singles in this over.

Over 7 Lamb 1-0-0-0-6-1 67-1 - Greg Lamb joins the attack, and his right-arm offspin almost seems to stick in the surface as he racks up three dot balls to Perera. The pressure builds, but Perera gets out of jail with a swipe over long-off that clears Mpofu by a single yard. Sri Lanka speeding along at 9.57 runs per over.

Over 6 Price 1-0-4-1-4-0 59-1 - Price continues into a third over, which makes sense as he has the most control among Zimbabwe's spinners and is thus best equipped to bowl during the field restrictions. He's punished for bowling short though as a relaxed looking Jayawardene pulls over midwicket for four. Perera then gets in on the act, leaning back to hit through the offside for his first boundary. You have to win the big moments at this level, and that run-out chance in the last over might well have been Zimbabwe's big chance in this match given the pace at which Sri Lanka are scoring.

Over 5 Chigumbura 6-1-1-0-4-4 49-1 - Jayawardene hits the first ball for six, and you'll struggle to find a finer shot than this. He just eased down the track and drove elegantly over wide long-off with hardly a hint of effort at all. He was nearly out two balls later though as Perera clipped to shirt fine leg - Coventry's shy at the stumps was marginally wide with Jayawardene well short. That might be the only way they'll stop him, because the nature of his second and third boundaries of the over - both placed as if he has all the time in the world - suggest a man on top of his game.

Over 4 Price 1-0-0-1lb-wd-0-1 33-1 - Zimbabwe are clawing things back here, with new batsman Thissara Perera relying on a leg-bye to get off strike as Price keeps it straight. Some good fielding helps Zimbabwe's cause, with Charles Coventry making a good stop at backward point.

Over 3 Chigumbura W-0-0-0-4-1 29-1 - Wicket! Zimbabwe strike, but in truth they would rather have dismissed Jayawardene than Dilshan. The latter has been in poor form - nothing like what he enjoyed in 2009 - and as he takes on Elton Chigumbura's first delivery he just lofts the ball up for mid-off to run back and claim the catch. He looks a confused man as he sits down unhappily on the bench back in the dugout. Tatenda Taibu saves four runs by flinging himself to his left as a deft chip from Jayawardene is stopped, but the batsman gets his boundary when Chigumbura digs the next one in and sees it helped on its way over the vacant slip region.

Over 2 Price wd-1-1-0-1lb-0-6 24-0 - And indeed Price comes in to bowl from around the wicket. The boundaries are big, so it will take some good hitting to clear them without any pace on the ball and the batsmen resort to singles for the most part. Price gets one to trouble Dilshan as it darts in, hits bat and pad and then just misses off stump, but then Jayawardene keeps Sri Lanka on the front foot with a towering six over square leg.

Over 1 Mpofu 0-4-6-0-0-4 14-0 - The conch shells sound around the ground as the lanky Mpofu bounds in and starts with a bouncer. That was a good delivery but his second is awful: short and wide and dispatched over point for four by Jayawardene, who then strolls down the pitch to the next delivery, easy as you like, to stroke it back over the bowler's head for six. The final delivery swings a touch, but Jayawardene gets across his stumps to flick it wide of mid-on for four more. Back to the drawing board for Zimbabwe, who will surely turn to spin now.

Seam first thanks Zimbabwe opened the bowling with spin during their recent one-day series in the Caribbean, but Chris Mpofu will bowl the first over to Mahela Jayawardena and Tillakaratne Dilshan.

Anthems They're being tooted out as I type, so we'll be underway shortly. As you can see below, Zimbabwe have gone in with four spinners - Lamb, Utseya, Price and Utseya - while Sri Lanka will ask Jayasuriya and Dilshan to lend a hand to full time spinners Mendis and Randiv.

Sri Lanka Tillakaratne Dilshan, Mahela Jayawardene, Kumar Sangakarra, Dinesh Chandimal, Chamara Kapugedera, Angelo Mathews, Sanath Jayasuriya, Thissara Perera, Suraj Randiv, Lasith Malinga, Ajantha Mendis

Zimbabwe Brendon Taylor, Hamilton Masakadza, Tatenda Taibu, Craig Ervine, Elton Chigumbura, Charles Coventry, Greg Lamb, Graeme Cremer, Propser Utseya, Ray Price, Chris Mpofu

Conditions We're just waiting for the team news to filter through, but you can expect plenty of spin in this match. While the St Lucia track was a decent batting wicket, Guyana has been much slower and Ian Bishop says this pitch will get even slower as the match wears on. Although they're missing Muralitharan, Sri Lanka still have several spinners who could strangle Zimbabwe in the chase.

Toss Kumar Sangakkara has come up trumps, and Sri Lanka will bat first. Prosper Utseya says he might consider opening with two spinners.

Hello all Welcome to over-by-over coverage of Sri Lanka versus Zimbabwe. Could be a bit of a tasty one, this. Sri Lanka have lost the services of Muttiah Muralitharan for the duration of the tournament, which is a rough development for them given that the Providence pitch has been well suited to spinners. They must win today to keep their Super Eight hopes alive, but come up against a revived Zimbabwe outfit who beat Australia and Pakistan in the warm-ups and have plenty of useful spinners. Could this be the first upset of the tournament?

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