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AS Zimbabwe face Sri Lanka in the first of the Tri-Nations series at Harare Sports Club today, the hosts will be hoping that a switch in the format of the game will bring with it a change in fortunes for them.The summer rains have arrived in Zimbabwe. Scattered showers have cooled the countryside after October’s oven, and there is a palpable sense of relief in a country where many depend on agriculture for their livelihood.

Zimbabwe’s national cricket team doesn’t include quite as many farmers (chicken or otherwise) as it once did, but they will also be somewhat relieved to be out of the unfamiliar cauldron of Test cricket and in the more forgiving climes of the limited-overs game.

The scorecards from their Test matches against Sri Lanka will show a pair of huge wins for the visitors, but Zimbabwe captain Graeme Cremer was happy to own the cliché and take some positives out of that series: his own Test hundred, the unearthing of a new talent in Carl Mumba, and a little more grit.

Despite their successes in the Tests, Sri Lanka still have a few concerns. The middle order was a perennial worry in the home series against Australia, which Sri Lanka lost 1-4.

Stand-in captain Upul Tharanga only played in one of those games against Australia, but he will now have to lead a side shorn of many of its heavyweights. Zimbabwe are exactly the sort of banana skin he won’t want to slip up on.

Zimbabwe might look to Australia’s performance in those one-dayers for some tips: whenever pressure was built, Sri Lanka lost wickets in clusters. While Zimbabwe don’t have bowlers of Australia’s calibre, several times during the Tests they were able to string together disciplined spells, with Chris Mpofu opening the fourth morning of the second Test with six maidens on the trot.

Test matches allow the time and space to ease that sort of pressure, but ODIs don’t and Cremer suggested before the tri-series that Zimbabwe’s bowlers would aim to nullify Sri Lanka’s scoring options wherever possible. Or at least, that’s the plan.

Despite the inexperience of their squad, Sri Lanka will be fancied as favourites in the opener and this tri-series will allow them to feel out some combinations before their rather more testing assignment against South Africa in similar conditions in the New Year.

Peter Moor’s batting talent and commitment to the national cricket side are beyond doubt, but multiple errors behind the stumps during the two Tests against Sri Lanka mean his glovework will be in the spotlight on Monday. Zimbabwe have not picked another front-line wicketkeeper in their squad, though Brian Chari might be available to fill in if need arises.

So Moor will be under some pressure to put in a cleaner performance. Upul Tharanga is closing in on 200 ODIs for Sri Lanka, but he has never captained the country in any format. He made runs in both Tests against Zimbabwe, cracking an unbeaten 110 in the first match, and he will look to continue to lead from the front in the ODIs, both for the benefit of the team and to solidify his own position in the XI.

Seamer Tinashe Panyangara’s return from injury will lend a little more experience to Zimbabwe’s bowling line-up, while at the other end of the spectrum, the hosts have included uncapped 22-year-old batsman Tarisai Musakanda in their squad. Musakanda was also with the team for the Tests, though he did not debut. Now, his chance may come at the expense of an underperforming Hamilton Masakadza. Given his workload in the Tests, Zimbabwe may rest seamer Chris Mpofu ahead of the games at his home ground in Bulawayo.

Zimbabwe (possible) Team:

1 Chamu Chibhabha, 2 Brian Chari, 3 Craig Ervine, 4 Hamilton Masakadza/Tarisai Musakanda, 5 Sean Williams, 6 Sikandar Raza, 7 PJ Moor (wk), 8 Graeme Cremer (c), 9 Tendai Chisoro, 10 Carl Mumba, 11 Tinashe Panyangara — Cricinfo.