Jeevan, Gihan take injury hit Bangladesh to the cleaners

by Sa'adi Thawfeeq

Bangladesh faced the prospect of going into the first cricket Test against Sri Lanka starting Monday week without their two leading Test bowlers Mashrafe Mortaza and Mohammad Rafique.

Neither was playing in the 3-day practice game at the Colombo Colts grounds where a Sri Lanka Cricket Development XI inspired by two stroke-filled innings from Jeevan Mendis and Gihan de Silva scored 412 on the second day in reply to Bangladesh's first innings of 195.

With a massive first innings deficit of 217 runs, Bangladesh were 31 for one wicket at the close, still trailing by 186 runs going into the third and final day today.

Mortaza, the 21-year-old right-arm fast-medium bowler has already been ruled out of for the rest of the tour and is returning home tomorrow. He has failed to show any signs of recovery from an injury, which he sustained below his right hip during the one-day practice game at Moratuwa.

Mortaza is the second highest wicket-taker in Tests for Bangladesh with 47 wickets (avg. 35.10) from 18 Tests.

Dav Whatmore, the coach said that X'ray and scans revealed nothing and that Mortaza initially responded to treatment very well.

"But the rate of progress didn't happen as we expected. Yesterday he underwent a bone scan at Apollo hospital and discovered that he has got some stress in the right vertebrae," said Whatmore. "Being a right arm bowler it was a little bit unusual. We are lucky to pick it up very early. He will need at least 6-12 weeks to recover and be able to return to competition. So we have decided to send him home."

Mortaza's replacement Talha Jubair is expected to arrive today and join the team in preparation for the Test series.

Whatmore said 35-year-old left-arm spinner Rafique who was nursing a knee injury sustained in the third one-day international against Sri Lanka on Sunday should be fit for the Test.

"Rafique had an impact injury when he batted at no. 3. The ball hit him through the pad and he suffered bruising. X'rays showed no breaks. He should be okay," said Whatmore.

Rafique is Bangladesh's highest wicket-taker in Tests with 68 (avg. 36.07) from 20 Tests.

In the absence of these two bowlers Bangladesh's second-string bowling attack took a pummelling from the SLC Development batsmen especially Mendis and de Silva who put together an entertaining partnership of 110 in 91 minutes for the seventh wicket. Mendis, the 22-year-old left-hander from SSC made 95 off 143 balls (1 six, 14 fours). De Silva, the 20-year-old wicket-keeper from Bloomfield, also a southpaw made 74 off 104 balls with the aid of seven fours.

They enlivened what turned out to be a dreary day of batting by the home side when overnight pair Shantha Kalavitigoda and Tilan Samaraweera failed to take advantage of a weak Bangladesh bowling attack and dawdled at the crease for too long a time.

Kalavitigoda added just five runs in 48 minutes to his overnight total of 54 before over cautiousness cost him his wicket when he was out edging an outswinger from left-armer Syed Rasel to wicket-keeper Mashud.

Samaraweera also adopted the same attitude and failed to get the score moving being too over defensive in his approach. He did not score a single boundary for 89 balls moving from 10 to 37 and was finally dismissed for 48 scored in 178 minutes off 140 balls (5 fours). For a Test batsman enjoying a Test average of 47 he should have taken the Bangladesh bowling to task, but instead allowed them to dictate terms on the field, which eventually led to his downfall.

Uncapped 21-year-old left-arm fast bowler Syed Rasel gave Bangladesh selectors some food for thought producing a fine bowling performance, which may see him force his way into the Test team. He finished with figures of four for 85, two of which came off successive deliveries with the second new ball. Not only did the Bangladesh bowlers lack that extra pace and control but were also guilty of sending down 25 no-balls, which contributed largely to the total of 48 extras.

Habibul Bashar, the Bangladesh captain returned to Colombo yesterday and joined the team after going to the bedside of his sick mother last week.

BANGLADESH  - 1ST INNINGS 195 
SRI LANKA CRICKET DEVELOPMENT XI - 1ST INNINGS 
overnight 109-2)  

H.E. Vithana c Nafees b Rasel 		16 
S. Kalavitigoda c Mashud b Rasel		59 
M.K. Gajanayake b Ahmed 		12 
T.T. Samaraweera lbw b Haque 		48 
S.H.T. Kandamby c Haque b Islam 	16 
B.M.A.J. Mendis lbw b Rasel 		95 
N.R.G. Wijekoon c Mashud b Haque 	9
G.T. de Silva run out 			74 
D. Randika lbw b Rasel 		0 
G. Rupasinghe lbw b Hossain 		32 
H.W.U. Waruna not out 		2 
Extras (B-4, LB-19, NB-25) 		48    
     
TOTAL (all out, 111.5 overs, 477 mins) 	412 

FALL OF WICKETS: 1-67, 2-95, 3-133, 4-162, 5-221, 6-240, 
 7-350, 8-350, 9-404, 10-412.  

BOWLING: Rasel 23-3-85-4 (4nb), Hossain 22.5-1-85-1 (10  nb), 
Baisya 11-2-44-0 (5nb), Haque 25-7-74-2 (6 nb), Ahmed 11-2-38-1,
 Islam  13-0-49-1, Imran 6-1-14-0.

          BANGLADESH - 2ND INNINGS 

Javed Omar not out 		12 
Nafees Iqbal lbw b Wijekoon 	5 
Manjural Islam not out 	2 
Extras (LB-1, NB-4, W-7) 	12  
TOTAL (for one wkt at close,
 8 overs, 36 mins) 		31 

FALL OF WICKET: 1-27. 
BOWLING: Lakshitha 2-0-10-0 (6w, 1nb), Waruna 4-0-18-0  (3nb), 
Wijekoon 2-1-2-1 (1w). Note: (12 play 11 bat)