Bayliss: Sri Lanka will find form

Trevor Bayliss believes Sri Lanka's collapse against Zimbabwe A was just a blip

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Sri Lanka coach Trevor Bayliss has shrugged off the mini batting collapse his team suffered in a warm-up match and is certain his players will rise to the challenge in the upcoming five-match one-day series with Zimbabwe.

The first match takes place tomorrow at Harare Sports Club - just as a three-member International Cricket Council task force arrive in the strife-torn nation to establish if Zimbabwe could regain its Test-playing status.

Zimbabwe, who were stripped of Test status four years ago, have not hosted an international match in over 11 months - West Indies being the last team to tour the country in December last year.

West Indies won that series 3-1 with the final match washed out without a ball bowled.

A 5-0 series whitewash in Pakistan followed by early elimination in the four-nation Twenty20 tournament in Toronto suggests Zimbabwe are unlikely to trouble Sri Lanka.

Yet, the performance of a Zimbabwe A team in a tour game against the tourists last week offers some hope.

Sri Lanka crashed to 73 for four with Kumar Sangakkara (five), Mahela Jayawardene (11) and Chamara Kapugedera (nought) all falling cheaply before Jehan Mubarak came to Sri Lanka's rescue with an unbeaten 88.

Rain, which is likely to feature prominently in the ensuing one-day series, ensured the contest remained inconclusive with the Zimbabwe innings washed out.

But Bayliss knows his team must raise their game for the ODI series.

Tatenda Taibu is uncertain of his Zimbabwe place due to perceived personal problems

"It will be very different when the one-dayers come calling," he said. "But, yes we need to regain focus quickly."

Sri Lanka have included several youngsters in their side in an experience-gaining mission, but the Asia Cup champions possess enough firepower in their ranks to suggest the African side could face another drubbing.

Zimbabwe are likely to be without their most experienced player and former captain Tatenda Taibu.

The wicketkeeper-batsman was left out of a four-day game against Sri Lanka last week due to personal reasons.

"We dropped him from the squad because he has personal issues to deal with," said chief selector Kenyon Ziehl.

"At this level of the game, we cannot send a player onto the field if he is not in the right frame of mind."

Taibu is at odds with officials in the Zimbabwe Cricket Association and has had a long-running dispute over pay and conditions.

In Sri Lanka`s first match of the tour, against a Zimbabwe Select XI, Sangakkara hit 174 and Kapugedera made 150 in a total of 567 for four in a four-day game

The ZCA had thrown the match into the schedule in the hope of exposing their players to the demands of the longer version of the game.