Seamers’ blast rattles Tigers

Five wickets from Dilhara Fernando and Farveez Maharoof proved sufficient to account for the Bangladeshi middle order in the first of three One-Day Internationals in Colombo.

Despite Tapash Baisya and debutant Syed Rasel, fresh from an impressive ‘A’ tour of England, vindicating skipper Habibul Bashar’s decision to bowl first by finding early movement from the Sinhalese Sports Club pitch, home openers Sanath Jayasuriya and young Upul Tharanga saw their side to a confident start.

Tharanga in particular was aided by lackadaisical fielding from the Bangladeshis – Shahriar Nafees in particular – as he was reprieved twice on his way to his maiden ODI fifty. Jayasuriya only progressed halfway to the milestone, however, as Baisya’s inswing found its way through the gate.

Neither Tharanga, Marvan Atapattu nor Kumar Sangakkara were able to inject any extra potency into the Sri Lankan accumulation, all three falling to over-ambitious strokeplay before Mahela Jayawardene galvanised the final overs of the hosts’ innings. Whilst a brace of run-outs prevented excessive acceleration and Rasel was rewarded for a solid first outing with two late wickets, Jayawardene scampered his way to fifty and ensured a more-than-respectable return of 269-9.

Bangladesh used their supersub Manjural Islam Rana midway through the first innings, Khaled Mahmud’s medium pace proving ineffective, and he was joined by his Sri Lankan counterpart Upul Chandana as Sanath Jayasuriya’s shoulder was protected from any further bowling duties.

Chaminda Vaas was unusually wicketless with the new ball, but his third over saw the end of Javed Omar following Russel Arnold’s direct hit from backward point, and it took the introduction of Fernando to bring further inroads.

Tushar Imran snicked a leg-cutter behind and Mohammad Ashraful fell to another impetuous leg-side smear before part-time spinners Tillakaratne Dilshan and Chandana both further stilted the run-rate and took a wicket apiece. Nafees’ diligent 39 was ended by a fine return catch from the off-spinner, but Chandana was more fortunate to collect Bashar’s wicket following a generous LBW decision.

The next five overs then ended the game as anything approaching a contest, Maharoof claiming the wickets of Aftab Ahmed, Manjural and Mohammad Rafique. Syed Rasel added 24 with the experienced wicketkeeper Khaled Mashud for the ninth wicket, before Baisya allied with Mahmud to survive the final 14 overs. The two lower order batsmen added an unbroken 54 – a record tenth wicket partnership for Bangladesh – and restored a semblance of respectability to the scoreline, but the final margin of 88 runs was still comprehensive.

The two sides now move on to the Premadasa ground in the capital for the final two ODIs of the series, before the same ground hosts the first of two Tests between the two countries in September.

Sri Lanka 269-9
Upul Tharanga 60, Marvan Atapattu 55
Syed Rasel 2-42, Aftab Ahmed 2-55

Bangladesh 181-9
Khaled Mashud 39*, Shahriar Nafees 39
Farveez Maharoof 3-29, Dilhara Fernando 2-29

Sri Lanka won by 88 runs

CricketWeb Player of the Match
Mahela Jayawardene (Sri Lanka) – 50 (35 balls)