Warnapura, Sangakkara strengthen Lanka’s grip
Malinga, Murali see Bangladesh reach lowest:
Chris Dhambarage
CRICKET: Sri Lanka drew first blood in their attempt to
register their ninth successive victory against Bangladesh with another
outstanding performance on the opening day of their second test match
which commenced at the P. Saravanamuttu Stadium yesterday.
After bundling out the visitors for their lowest total the Lankans
then consolidated their position to reach a formidable 154 for 1 a first
innings lead of 92 runs before heavy rains brought an early end to the
game with 16 overs still remaining.
Fast bowler Lasith Malinga and off spinner Muttiah Muralitharan
shared four wickets each as Bangladesh after being put into bat were
dismissed in the first over after lunch having faced just 25.2 overs.
Speed star Malinga caused the initial damage capturing the first four
wickets of the Bangladesh innings.
Twenty three year old Malinga fully exploited the conditions through
some genuine hostile bowling as he broke the heart of the Bangladesh
batting during a nine over opening spell. He made life difficult for the
visitors with his clever variation and bounce and made certain that
there will be no contest at the end.
In fact Bangladesh lost half of their side for just 33 runs and they
never recovered from there onwards as they produced almost a repeat
performance of the first Test which they also lost by an innings and 234
runs at the Sinhalese Sports Club ground, Maitland Place last week.
This time it was Lasith Malinga who played havoc with the Bangladesh
top order with his aggressive bowling combined with a series of dipping
yorkers throughout the innings. Bangladesh’s previous lowest total was
86 runs also against Sri Lanka in 2005 at the R. Premadasa Stadium.
This total of 62 runs is also the lowest total in Sri Lanka which is
nine runs less than Sri Lanka’s total of 71 against Pakistan at Kandy in
1994.
The Bangladesh innings lasted only 152 balls (25.2 overs) and this is
the fourth shortest completed first innings of a Test match. The
shortest is 113 balls during the Ashes Test at Lord’s in 1896.
In fact Bangladesh slumped to 22 for 4 within the first one hour of
play with Lasith Malinga really threatening to run through the innings
single handedly. However it was Muttiah Muralitharan who added the
finishing touches to the innings while capturing four late wickets.
The 35 year old off spinner increased his career tally to 687 wickets
while leaving him just 21 short of equalling retired Australian spinner
Shane Warne’s World record haul of 708 wickets. Bangladesh who were
bowled out for 89 runs on the first day of the previous test never
looked like making an impact with only Rajin Saleh (21) reaching double
figures.
The Sri Lankan batsmen then took control of the situation with
another solid performance with left handers Malinda Warnapura and Kumar
Sangakkara both completing half centuries. The pair have so far put on
113 runs for the second wicket after they had lost the first test
centurian and opener Michael van Dort for 14.
This was a significant moment for Malinda Warnapura who scored his
maiden test half century following his first ball duck in his Test debut
at the SSC grounds last week. This time of course he got his act
together well and look set to reach the three figure mark having struck
nine boundaries from his 117 deliveries.
In contrast Kumar Sangakkara completed his 22nd half century and is
now averaging over seventy runs from the 18 matches he had played as a
batsman alone. He has already struck five fours and faced 110 balls in
his unbeaten knock of 51.
Sri Lanka retained the same team that won the first Test at the
Sinhalese Sports Club ground Maitland Place last week.
Bangladesh made three changes bringing in Mehrab, seamer Mohammad
Sharif and 18 year old wicket keeper batsman Rahim. The trio replaced
Khaled Mashud, Shakib Al Hasan and Abdur Razzak.
BANGLADESH 1st innings:
Javed Omar c P. Jayawardene b Malinga 08
Shahriar Nafees lbw b Malinga 00
R. Saleh c M. Jayawardene b Muralitharan 21
H. Bashar c M. Jayawardene b Malinga 05
M. Ashraful c Warnapura b Malinga 00
M. Hossain b Fernando 06
M. Rahim c P. Jayawardene b Muralitharan 09
M. Mortaza c M. Jayawardene b Fernando 00
Mohammad Rafique c Vaas b Muralitharan 02
Mohammad Sharif not out 04
Shahadat Hossain b Muralitharan 01
EXTRAS: (lb1, nb4, w1) 06
TOTAL 62
Fall of wickets: 1-3 (Nafees), 2-14 (Omar), 3-22 (Bashar),
4-22 (Ashraful), 5-33 (Mehrab), 6-45 (Rahim), 7-48 (Mortaza),
8-51 (Rafique), 9-56 (Saleh).
Bowling: Vaas 5-1-6-0, Malinga 9-1-25-4 (nb3, w1), Fernando 6-1-16-2,
Muralitharan 5.2-1-14-4 (nb1)
SRI LANKA 1st innings:
M. Vandort b Mortaza 14
M. Warnapura not out 79
K. Sangakkara not out 51
EXTRAS: (lb3, nb7) 10
TOTAL (for one wicket) 154
Fall of wicket: 1-41 (Vandort)
Bowling: Mortaza 12-1-31-1 (nb4), Shahadat 9-1-34-0,
Sharif 7.3-1-26-0, Rafique 14-1-48-0 (nb3), Ashraful 3-0-12-0
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