Zimbabwe wary of Muralitharan, Malinga threat

PALLEKELE, Mar 9 (AFP): Zimbabwe captain Elton Chigumbura has pinpointed Muttiah Muralitharan and Lasith Malinga as a double danger when they meet Sri Lanka in the World Cup Wednesday. The African nation, who have never beaten Sri Lanka in four previous World Cup matches, need a win to stay in hunt for a quarter-final place from Group A which is topped by New Zealand ahead of Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Australia. Zimbabwe have two points from their win over Canada while they lost to New Zeaaland and Australia. "It's a very important game as we only have two points. We'll be looking to play our best cricket against Sri Lanka and to do that we need to make a competitive score against their quality bowlers," said Chigumbura. Chigumbura said Zimbabwe have a plan to tackle off-spinner Muralitharan, who has taken the most one-day wickets, and slinger Malinga who took a career-best 6-38, including a hat-trick, against Kenya. "Sri Lanka's whole attack has match-winners with Murali and Malinga obviously the big names, they are experienced and they know their conditions well and will use them to the best of their abilities."