Five-wicket Murali puts Bangladesh in a spin
CRICKET: DHAKA, Dec 27, 2008 - Spin wizard Muttiah Muralitharan put
Sri Lanka in a commanding position with a five-wicket haul in the
opening Test against Bangladesh here on Saturday.
The off-spinner grabbed 5-48 — his 66th haul of five or more wickets
in a Test innings — as Bangladesh crashed to 177-9 in their first
innings at stumps on the second day in reply to Sri Lanka’s 293.
Opener Imrul Kayes top-scored with 33 in an inconsistent Bangladeshi
batting performance. Junaid Siddique (29), Mehrab Hossain (29) and
Shakib Al Hasan (26) also got starts, but failed to convert them into
big knocks.
Muralitharan was superbly backed by left-arm seamer Chaminda Vaas,
who took two wickets in his four overs to finish with 2-33. Left-arm
spinner Rangana Herath and Dammika Prasad each bagged one wicket.
Sri Lanka were bowled out on the stroke of lunch after resuming at
172-6, with middle-order batsman Thilan Samaraweera scoring a solid 90.
Muralitharan struck with his second delivery when he had Tamim Iqbal
(17) caught by a diving Malinda Warnapura at short-leg and then bowled
Siddique in the last over before the tea-break.
He was on a hat-trick in the final session when he had Shakib Al
Hasan caught by skipper Mahela Jayawardene at first slip and then
trapped Mashrafe Mortaza leg-before for no score.
Vaas struck twice in the afternoon session when he had Kayes caught
behind and then bagged his 350th Test wicket when he had skipper
Mohammad Ashraful caught by Tillakaratne Dilshan in the covers.
The morning session belonged to Samaraweera, who looked set to
complete his eighth Test hundred before being the last man out. He was
caught by Siddique at first slip off left-arm spinner Shakib Al Hasan
after hitting 13 fours.
Hasan claimed two of the four wickets that fell in the morning to
finish with an impressive 5-70, his third successive haul of five or
more wickets in a Test innings.
Sri Lanka denied the hosts success for nearly two hours in the
morning session, with Samaraweera and lower-order batsman Vaas adding 99
for the seventh wicket.
Mortaza broke their stand with the second new ball when he had Vaas
caught behind for 37 — a tally that included six fours.
The tourists’ innings did not last long after Vaas’s dismissal as
they lost their last three wickets for just eight runs.
SRI LANKA - 1ST INNINGS
M.Vandort c Hasan b Hossain 44
M. Warnapura lbw b Mortaza 14
K.C. Sangakkara c Ashraful b Hasan 43
D.P.M.Jayawardene b Shakib Al Hasan 3
T.T. Samaraweera c Siddique b Al Hasan 90
T.M. Dilshan b Shakib Al Hasan 14
H.A.P.W. Jayawardene c Iqbal b Hossain 6
.C. Vaas c Rahim b Mortaza 37
D. Prasad lbw b Al Hasan 3
H.M.R. Herath run out 1
M. Muralitharan not out 0
EXTRAS (b-4, lb-13, w-12, nb-9) 38
TOTAL (all out ) 293
FALL OF WICKETS: 1-24 (Warnapura), 2-119 (Sangakkara), 3-121 (Vandort),
4-135 (DPMD Jayawardene), 5-155 (Dilshan), 6-171 (HAPW Jayawardene),
7-270 (Vaas), 8-285 (Prasad), 9-291 (Herath), 10-293 (Samaraweera).
BOWLING: Mortaza 18-2-67-2, Mahbubul Alam 19-4-56-0, Shahadat Hossain 16-2-55-2,
Shakib Al Hasan 28.4-4-70-5, Mehrab Hossain jnr 6-1-22-0, M. Ashraful 2-0-6-0.
BANGLADESH - 1ST INNINGS
Tamim Iqbal c Warnapura b Muralitharan 17
Imrul Kayes c P. Jayawardene b Vaas 33
Junaid Siddique b Muralitharan 29
M. Ashraful c Dilshan b Vaas 12
Raqibul Hasan b Prasad 11
Mehrab Hossain jnr c Jayawardene b Herath 29
Al Hasan c M. Jayawardene b Muralitharan 26
Mushfiqur Rahim not out 11
M. Mortaza lbw b Muralitharan 0
S. Hossain st P. Jayawardene b Muralitharan 5
Mahbubul Alam not out 0
EXTRAS (b-4) 4
TOTAL (9 wkts; ) 177
FALL OF WICKETS: 1-44 (Tamim Iqbal), 2-68 (Imrul Kayes),3-90 (Mohammad Ashraful),
4-95 (Junaid Siddique), 5-117 (Raqibul Hasan), 6-158 (Mehrab Hossain),
7-162 (Shakib Al Hasan), 8-162 (Mashrafe Mortaza), 9-176 (Shahadat Hossain).
BOWLING: Vaas 11-4-33-2, Prasad 13-0-61-1, Dilshan 2-0-2-0, Muralitharan 21-8-48-5, Herath 12-1-29-1. |
