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| Saturday, 24 July 2004 |
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Jayasuriya roars back to form with century By Sa'adi Thawfeeq Former captain Sanath Jayasuriya returned to form with a vengeance pounding a hapless Bangladesh bowling attack to the tune of 107 not out off 101 balls as Sri Lanka raced to a convincing ten-wicket win in a phase 2 Asia Cup match played under lights at the R. Premadasa Stadium yesterday. Bangladesh batting first after winning the toss made 190-9 off 50 overs, and Sri Lanka went past that total in the 34th over scoring 191 for no loss in 33.3 to grab an extra bonus point. With two bonus points in as many matches in phase 2 of the competition, Sri Lanka are virtually assured of a place in the final. They have one game left against India on Tuesday. The innings was Jayasuriya's 17th one-day hundred and his first in 29 one-day innings since he made 120 against New Zealand in a World Cup match at Bloemfontein 17 months ago. The left-hander who was short of runs coming into the tournament was quickly into his stride racing to his half-century off 38 balls (8 fours) and then to his century, which he brought up in 99 balls with 11 fours. His innings comprised all the Jayasuriya strokes including his trademark square cut. With Jayasuriya in full flow the bowling was made to look pretty ordinary as he cut, drove and pulled his way in a chanceless display. There was hardly any emotion on his face when he reached the landmark except for a congratulatory hug from his opening partner Avishka Gunawardene who finished on 64 not out off 100 balls (4 fours). The pair set up a new Asia Cup first wicket record with their unfinished partnership of 191 off 201 balls, which improved on the existing one of 171 by Jayasuriya and Marvan Atapattu at the SSC in 1997. It was a thoroughly convincing performance by Sri Lanka who should by now consider them favourite for the title. Bangladesh ended up with a far better total than anticipated at one stage of their innings when they slumped to 31-4 in the 17th over. They recovered to 190-9 in 50 overs through a fifth wicket stand of exactly 100 off 155 balls between Mohammad Ashraful who top scored with a career best 66 and Manjural Islam who made 43. Until this pair came together the earlier batting had looked pretty ordinary with Lasith Malinga making the first strike by having opener Rajin Saleh caught behind for five in the second over. Malinga was unfortunate not to have taken a wicket with his first ball when Jayawardene at second slip dropped a screamer that whistled past his head to the third man boundary. Habibul Bashar went the same way to Vaas and Alok Kapali forgot the cardinal rule trying to steal a single off a misfield and easily run out. Faisal Hossain played on to a Maharoof delivery and at 31-4 it looked as if the game was headed for an early finish. But Ashraful who made a memorable entry to Test cricket by becoming the youngest to score a century on debut against Sri Lanka at the SSC three years ago, showed his likeness for the Sri Lankan bowling. He paced his innings out superbly to score 66 off 121 balls with the aid of five fours and one six before he chanced his arm against Dilshan on a second run and was run out by a direct hit from wide mid-on. Ashraful who opened the batting for Bangladesh batted for 45 overs and despite his fall at 151 the innings was kept in momentum by the tail that rallied till the overs ran out. His previous highest in three scores over fifty was 56. Islam made 43 off 84 balls with three fours before trying to take on Muralitharan he was stumped by Sangakkara. There were also useful contributions from Khaled Mashud (19) and Abdur Razzaq (10). Both batsmen fell to Vaas who struck twice in his ninth over to finish with three wickets for 30 runs. The Sri Lankan fielding was not as sharp as it had been in the previous two games with Ashraful being given a reprieve at 25 when Vaas spilled a catch at mid-on off Malinga's first ball of a new spell. The small right-hander was also lucky to survive a confident lbw against Jayasuriya at 30. BANGLADESH:
M. Ashraful run out 66
R. Saleh c Sangakkara b Malinga 5
H. Bashar c Sangakkara b Vaas 7
A. Kapali run out 1
F. Hossain b Maharoof 1
M. Islam st Sangakkara b Muralitharan 43
K. Mashud c and b Vaas 19
A. Razzaq b Vaas 10
M. Rafique run out 5
K. Mahmud not out 8
T. Baisya not out 5
Extras (b5, lb11, nb2, w2) 20
TOTAL (for nine wickets) 190
FALL OF WICKETS: 1-6, 2-21, 3-23, 4-31, 5-131,
6-151, 7-172, 8-175, 9-182.
BOWLING: Vaas 10-3-30-3, Malinga 9-1-24-1,
Muralitharan 10-2-26-1, Maharoof 8-0-33-1,
Chandana 7-0-39-0, Jayasuriya 6-0-22-0. \
Overs: 50
SRI LANKA
A. Gunawardene not out 64
S. Jayasuriya not out 107
Extras (lb2, w18) 20
TOTAL (for no loss) 191
BOWLING: Baisya 7-0-32-0, Mahmud 5-0-40-0,
Razzaq 6-0-41-0, Rafique 8-0-42-0,
Islam 7-0-30-0, Ashraful 0.3-0-4-0.
Overs: 33.3
Man of the match: Sanath Jayasuriya (SRI)
Umpires: David Shepherd (ENG) and Peter Parker (AUS)
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