text: Dilshan century drives Sri Lanka to title | CricketViewer.com
  Zimbabwe were also hit hard by their batsmen's general tendency to not play the full-blooded cut shot. Brendan Taylor, their best batsman of the tournament, and Taibu, the best on the final day, both fell to limp cuts, finding gully and point respectively. On the big day, Zimbabwe displayed muddled thinking too: with five wickets down, both Greg Lamb and Charles Coventry got out swinging, but the batting Powerplay wasn't taken before the 46th over. Nor did they open the bowling with spin, a move that had worked well for them. By the time Ray Price bowled his first over, Sri Lanka had already reached 38 in six overs.
  At any rate, even Price's best effort might not have been enough. They were forced into perennial rebuilding mode by the Sri Lankan new-ball bowlers. Kulasekara swung the ball in, Fernando out, and Zimbabwe hardly looked like challenging the norm of chasing sides winning in the tournament. Kulasekara gave four runs in his first four overs for the wicket of Hamilton Masakadza, and Zimbabwe never really recovered.
  If Fernando's bowling – fuller than his stock length, thus getting outswing – was a bonus, Kulasekara's use of the straighter delivery was just as good. When an asphyxiated Masakadza tried to counter the inswing by walking across the stumps, the ball just held its line and took a healthy outside edge. Taylor struggled against the current, going from 4 off 10 to 19 off 21, but played perhaps his worst shot of the series when he looked to steer Fernando despite the presence of a gully fielder. Thilan Samaraweera went low to his right to complete the catch, and the openers were gone inside the first 10 overs.
  Then began Zimbabwe's recovery. Taibu went on a sweeping spree, of both varieties. He and Lamb ran hard, putting behind them the run-out. One of those stolen singles earned them four overthrows too. In the 24th over, Taibu hit two lovely chipped boundaries over extra cover. From 7 off 24, he had moved to his fifty off just 70 balls, during a partnership of counterattack.
  With only a small target, the Sri Lankan openers didn't offer the Zimbabwe spinners the respect they were used to. Dilshan hit boundaries in Price's first two overs and, as has been the trend, Tharanga took over after the Dilshan blitz. By the 17th over, Tharanga had almost caught up with Dilshan, and brought up Sri Lanka's hundred with an effortless six over long-on, off the bowling of Prosper Utseya.
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