Dilshan leads from the front

When Sri Lanka rested their top stars and handed the captaincy to Tillakaratne Dilshan for the triangular series in Zimbabwe, their purpose was two-fold - to test the bench-strength ahead of next year's World Cup and hope responsibility would stir one of their premier batsmen out of his lean spell. Both wishes came true for Sri Lanka yesterday, as Dilshan scored a majestic unbeaten 108 to steer his side to a crushing nine-wicket win over Zimbabwe in the final. He finished the tournament with the highest run-aggregate, 328, and is looking to climb back up world cricket's batting charts. "For the last month and a half, I have not been at my best," Dilshan said in the post-match television interview. "But I am back in form and I want to carry it to the World Cup." Nuwan Kulasekara, who conceded just four runs from his first four overs, and Dilhara Fernando stifled the Zimbabwe at the start of their innings, dismissing both the openers - Hamilton Masakadza and Brendan Taylor - inside the first 10 overs with just 29 on the board. A battling 71 from Tatenda Taibu allowed them to score 199, but a 160-run partnership for the opening wicket between Dilshan and Upul Tharanga allowed Sri Lanka to reach their target with 15.2 overs to spare. "I am really happy with the boys' performance, especially the two fast bowlers," Dilshan said. "They set the tone for us in the first 10 overs and bowled really well.

"We had brought a lot of youngsters here to give them experience and all the players made good use of their opportunities, especially [Dinesh] Chandimal, with a 100 against India, and Jeevan Mendis. "He is another all-rounder we are looking at for the World Cup. He batted well in the middle-order and bowled well in this final and a couple of matches. So I am really happy with the team's performance." The Zimbabwe camp was also a contented one, despite coming up second-best in the final. They won three of their four games in the league stages, with two victories over India and one against Sri Lanka. "It is very satisfying to get to where we are," said Taylor, who was named the man of the series for his 295 runs, which included an unbeaten 119 in the final league game against Sri Lanka. "We've worked hard to get here. The guys have really pulled together and it is unfortunate we did not back it up in the final. "But we are pleased with the way things are going. We are just happy enough that the guys are pulling together. Not just myself, but people have shown good performances - Taibu, Masakadza and our spinners have always done well for us." Elton Chigumbura, the Zimbabwe captain, shared the positive sentiments and is looking forward to the future. "There are lots of things we can get out of this series, especially our batting," he said. "The guys really applied themselves well and that is something we can take into the future. Hopefully, we will just go in the right way and start winning more games. Unfortunately we have a break now, but next season, hopefully, we will just carry on from this year." There will be no break for Sri Lanka though. They will return home to take part in the Asia Cup, which also features India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, and starts from June 15. "We start the Asia Cup in a few days," Dilshan said. "I am very happy with our performance and hope to carry this form into the Asia Cup." * Compiled by Ahmed Rizvi