|
dailynews |
|
|
|
|
|
OTHER LINKS |
|
|
|
Magnificent century from AshrafulTEST CRICKET: Bangladesh spearheaded by a magnificent century from Mohamed Ashraful drew first blood before Sri Lanka came back with a couple of late wickets to share the honours on the opening day of the first test match played at the Divisional Stadium in Chittagong here Tuesday. Ashraful completed his third test century as Bangladesh playing their first test against Sri Lanka at home finished the day at an impressive 315 for 9 in their first innings after having elected to bat first. Even then at one stage it looked as if the hosts would be bundled out for a score of under 250 runs after they had slumped to 146 for 4 shortly after lunch. But Ashraful took up the challenge to the Sri Lankan bowlers as he played some delightful shots to all parts of the ground. The elegant middle order batsman played his natural game and certainly proved his talent and potential with a powerful display that even surprised the opposition. He cut and drove with a minimum effort picking up the odd singles and the two's and always collected a boundary with the loose deliveries. He reached his first fifty from 70 balls with the help of six fours and also put on 64 useful runs for the fifth wicket with Khaled Mashud whose contribution was just six runs from fifty balls. Ashraful continued to frustrate the Sri Lankans during the final session too and completed the three figure mark in a spectacular manner hoisting Lasith Malinga for a six over mid wicket. No doubt he enjoyed a great amount of luck at the crease and had a couple of narrow shaves where the ball had landed in no mans land on few occasions. But altogether this was a fantastic effort from Ashraful who struck fifteen fours and three sixes before falling to Muralitharan just three overs before stumps. Asharaful had earlier survived a couple of chances where he was beaten while trying to reverse sweep Muralitharan on a couple of occasions while batting in the nervous 90's. He did not mind the situation and played his normal aggressive game which helped Bangladesh reach three hundred runs on the first day of a test match for the first time. But his adventurous batting ultimately brought his downfall too which helped Sri Lanka bounce back again with a couple of quick wickets. Sri Lanka's fight back came in the form of Lasith Malinga who bowled his heart out to pick up two wickets with the second new ball. He responded to his captain's call and bowled a fiery spell during the final hour to make the exchanges almost even. No doubt skipper Mahela Jayawardena will be more than pleased with Malinga's effort considering the fact that his fastest bowler Dilhara Fernando went wicketless from his seventeen overs. But the major concern for Dilhara Fernando was his problem of overstepping which cost him as many as eight no balls in addition to one wide. Lasith Malinga of course gave Sri Lanka a flying start where he picked up a wicket in the very first over of the day. But the most significant fact was that he kept on trying and really toiled hard on a good batting surface. But the Bangladesh middle order rallied around through the efforts of Mohamed Ashraful and were successful in rattling up the highest total against Sri Lanka in a test match. Ashraful really put the Sri Lankans under pressure and his best moment was when he collected sixteen runs in Malinga Bandara's one over shortly after completing a memorable century. Muralitharan reached another landmark in this match where his three wickets made him the highest wicket taker for Sri Lanka against Bangladesh while shattering Pakistani leg spinner Danesh Kaneria's haul of 34 wickets. CHITTAGONG, Bangladesh, Tuesday. BANGLADESH 1st inningsOmar c Samaraweera b Malinga 04 |
|
|
 |
 |