Final Test begins today:

Cynosure of all eyes

Chris Dhambarage

CRICKET: Two outstanding Sri Lankan cricketers Muttiah Muralitharan and Kumar Sangakkara will be the cynosure of all eyes when the third and final Test match against Bangladesh starts underway at the Asgiriya International Stadium in Kandy today.

Champion off spinner Muralitharan and dynamic left hander Sangakkara will be performing on their home turf and will be quite anxious to make it a memorable outing. In addition both players are approaching a personal milestones having played a major role in the two previous Test matches.

Sri Lanka of course are pressing for a three nil clean sweep and also for their tenth successive victory against the minnows of Test cricket. They won the first Test by an innings and 234 runs at the SSC grounds and the second Test by an innings and 90 runs at the P. Saravanamuttu Stadium with both matches ending well inside four days.

Sangakkara is of course now batting even more freely having got rid of the burden of keeping wickets a job which has been accepted by Prasanna Jayawardena. Altogether the Sri Lankan batting has been quite consistent throughout the series with the entire top order striking form.

Sri Lanka who experimented with a new opening combination of Michael van Dort and Malinda Warnapura are likely to retain the same pair for the Test although regular opening batsman Upul Tharanga has fully recovered from an injury.

In fact van Dort scored a fluent century in the opening Test while Warnapura came closer of reaching his maiden century in the second Test. Skipper Mahela Jayawardena who is averaging 88 runs in the current series will be determined to produce another good batting performance.

Another reason for Sri Lanka’s success in the series has been the variety of their bowling attack where wickets have been shared by the fast bowlers and the spinners. Muralitharan is of course ahead with a tally of 14 wickets at an average of 14.28.

But the most significant fact is the three fast bowlers who have performed equally well in this series which has created a competition among themselves. Opening bowler Lasith Malinga (9 wickets) is slightly ahead while Dilhara Fernando (8 wickets) and Chaminda Vaas (6 wickets) have also stuck to their task.

However with Vaas out of action Sri Lanka will be forced to make a change with new comer Sujeewa de Silva and Farveez Maharoof both in contention. Maharoof with his all round potential will have a slight edge but certainly a final decision will only be taken shortly before the start of the match.

Tharanga, Maharoof and Sujeewa in

Chairman, National Selection Committee, Asantha de Mel yesterday confirmed that opener Upul Tharanga, allrounder Farveez Maharoof and left arm paceman Sujeewa de Silva will make it to the final 11 of the Sri Lanka team in place of Malinda Warnapura, Dilhara Fernando and Chaminda Vaas.

Bangladesh will be hoping to produce an improved performance following repeated first innings failures where they were shot out for just 89 runs and 62 runs which is their lowest total in Test cricket.

They are no doubt concerned about their performances in the last two games and will be hoping to at least stretch the match into the full five days which they have failed in all nine outings against the Lankans.

Bangladesh of course managed to score 254 and 299 in the second innings of the two Tests to raise their hopes that all is not lost against one of the most formidable attacks in world cricket. In fact Ashraful and teenager Mushfiqur Rahim batted well in the second Test by putting on a record partnership of 191 for the sixth wicket, Bangladesh’s best ever in the 48 Tests they have played so far.

Ashraful made an unbeaten 129, his fourth Test century and the third against Sri Lanka, while the 18-year-old Rahim hit 80 in a splendid rearguard action at the P. Saravanamuttu Stadium.

But Bangladesh have been let down by the poor performance of the two senior players former captain Habibul Bashar and left arm spinner Mohammed Rafique.

The teams from:

Bangladesh

Mohammed Ashraful (captain), Mashrafe Mortaza, Habibul Bashar, Javed Omer, Mehrab Hossain, Shahriar Nafees, Rajin Saleh, Shakib Al Hasan, Khaled Mashud, Shahadat Hossain, Syed Rasel, Mohammed Rafique, Abdur Razzak, Mohammed Sharif, Mushfiqur Rahim.

Sri Lanka

Mahela Jayawardene (captain), Michael van Dort, Kumar Sangakkara, Chamara Silva, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Prasanna Jayawardene, Farveez Maharoof, Muttiah Muralitharan, Lasith Malinga, Dilhara Fernando, Malinga Bandara, Malinda Warnapura, Sujeewa de Silva.

Umpires: Rudi Koertzen and Suresh Shastri.

Match Referee: Jeff Crow.