SAM MORSHEAD AT CARDIFF: There is something of Richard Kiel's Jaws about Zazai - an intimidating frame, chiselled features, a hulking grip on his bat, but beneath it all an impish enjoyment of the occasion
Sri Lanka might have been dealt a difficult hand by the fixture list - being sent in twice on a Cardiff wicket green enough to qualify for setaside subsidy, under drooping cloud, is not exactly a batsman’s idea of a fun day out - but that alone cannot excuse two dismal middle-order collapses.
Asantha De Mel, the Sri Lanka chief selector said as much in the week.
“The wicket in Cardiff you can’t differentiate from the outfield,” he said. “We got quite a shock when we saw the wicket but there’s nothing that we can do now.
“Whatever pitch we are given we have to play.”
Quite right, Mr De Mel. The problem is your batsmen are forgetting to do it.
On Saturday against New Zealand, they slumped from 46 for 1 to 60 for 6 and it was an eerily similar story on Tuesday. This time they got a much better start, thanks to Kusal Perera, and began the 14th over with 92 on the board and both openers still at the wicket.
By the end of the 26th, they were six down for 159, a combination of prods and pokes against the spin of Mohammad Nabi and one calamitous run out contributing to their demise.
It is not going to get any easier as the tournament goes on for the Sri Lankans, and some real soul-searching will have to be done prior to their next engagement, against a resurgent Pakistan in Bristol on Friday.
Sri Lanka slipped from 92-0 to 201 all out
Much has been made of England’s players kicking a football about in their warm-up prior to the start of play, with Jonny Bairstow’s injury in Sri Lanka over the winter only exacerbating the matter.
We know director of men’s cricket Ashley Giles is not a fan but scrapping the tradition would not go down well with the squad.
Well, Afghanistan have a useful alternative. The sight of barrel-bodied wicketkeeper Mohammad Shahzad throwing himself over the ground to try to catch a frisbee 20 minutes before the first ball was bowled was an unexpected treat.
And then the Korf Ball emerged, fizzing through the damp air during the rain break as the Afghans prepared for the restart.
So there you have it, Gilo. Get down to the nearest seafront kiosk and buy a beach games multipack, and everything will be alright with the world.
WORLD CUP PORTAL: Your one-stop shop to the summer spectacular
Hamid Hassan’s World Cup form has been up and down like an out-of-control big dipper.
After bowling two overs at David Warner, of all people, in Afghanistan’s first game, he opened up against Sri Lanka with a pair of total duds.
A total radar malfunction saw his lines and lengths off not by a matter of inches but by several feet, gifting the Sri Lankans 30.
The 17 extras conceded by Afghanistan in the first five overs of the match was the highest of any World Cup game since 1999, and it set Sri Lanka on course for their best 10-over powerplay since 2015.
Hassan is made of stern stuff, though, and bounced back with a brutal second spell, upping his pace, recalibrating his radar and worrying the opposition batsmen throughout. It was very much a Jekyll and Hyde performance.
The umpires kept the players on through the drizzle in Cardiff
Often cricket can forget its place as a spectator sport, with playing regulations depriving the paying public of action. And we criticises umpires and administrators for this, relentlessly.
So it is only right to applaud officials when absolutely everything is done to get the game on.
Here in Cardiff, that was exactly what happened when rain swooped in from the south and drenched Sophia Gardens for two hours in the early afternoon.
The groundstaff were swift with the clear-up, the players were willing to get back out - well, some more than others, with Afghanistan hovering near the wicket fully 20 minutes before play was scheduled to resume - and the umpires were happy to send everyone back onto the field through the drizzle.
Now if only the same thought process could be applied across the sport… but let’s not get into that here.
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Do try to make time to watch Afghanistan bat at some point over the next four or five weeks, if only to see the extraordinary Hazratullah Zazai in full flow.
The explosive 21-year-old burst onto the scene last year with a brutal 12-ball half-century in the Afghanistan Premier League and then 162 not out from a frankly ridiculous 62 deliveries in a T20I against Ireland.
He swings hard, he swings often, he certainly doesn’t like to block and, most importantly, he does not care what you think.
There is something of Richard Kiel’s Jaws about Zazai - an intimidating frame, chiselled features, a hulking grip on his bat, but beneath it all an impish enjoyment of the occasion.
His first boundary at Cardiff, a short-armed jab which came down on the rope at midwicket for six, from a delivery which absolutely did not merit such disdain, was evidence of terrific hand-eye coordination, too.
Here’s to a breakthrough innings at some point in the next seven matches - his 30 here has certainly got the pot bubbling.
Angelo Mathews is caught at slip
Kusal Mendis’s World Cup to date…
A first-ball duck.
A second-ball two.
A dreadful drop at deep backward square leg.
Thank heavens for him there are a gazillion more group games to make up for all that.
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