da pinnacle： Only 29 overs were possible on a rain-marred first day’s play at Kandy’s Asgiriya International Stadium but enough for Sri Lanka to continue their domination over Bangladesh
The Bulletin by Jamie Alter11-Jul-2007Stumps Bangladesh 72 for 4 (Tushar 6*, Ashraful 4*) v Sri Lanka
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out
Muralitharan spun a web around Rajin Saleh who, having scratched aroundfor 29 deliveries, failed to read the doosra and edged to slip for 0 © Getty Images
Only 29 overs were possible on a rain-marred first day’s play at Kandy’sAsgiriya International Stadium but those 110 minutes of play were enoughfor Sri Lanka to continue their domination over Bangladesh. MahelaJayawardene won his third consecutive toss and given the moist conditionsahead of the start, put Bangladesh in to bat in the dead rubber. With eachrain delay the pitch turned into a skiddy track and the bowlers pluggedaway amid the showers to leave the tourists on 72 for 4.Three slips and a gully awaited the Bangladesh openers as a fully peroxideLasith Malinga, spearheading an inexperienced pace attack, tore in and letloose a volley of lifters and swinging deliveries. Two low full tosses inthe third over got Javed Omar boundaries, but then Malinga pitched oneshorter on middle, got it to straighten, and a leaden-footed Omar was outleg before. Malinga continued to probe as a stiff breeze blew across from the west,but just 12 overs into the match rain sent everyone inside the pavilion.Farveez Maharoof, in the XI in the absence of a Middlesex-bound ChamindaVaas, gave Sri Lanka their second wicket in the first over on resumption.Habibul Bashar, who had begun to look confident against the same bowler inthe first session, couldn’t get glove out of the way as he fended a lifterand was given out caught behind.Muttiah Muralitharan, after bowling a solitary over before the first raincame down, returned under overcast conditions with just one catcherclose-in. Clearly bowling quicker to get the ball to skid through, he hadthe batsmen working overtime to get over the ball. He didn’t get a wicketthen, but with the pitch slower than at the SSC or P Sara Stadium, it wasonly a matter of time before he struck.Rain returned to hold up play again, for 117 minutes this time, and when actionresumed the ball was skidding quite low and all over the place.Muralitharan spun a web around Rajin Saleh who, having scratched aroundfor 29 deliveries, failed to read the doosra and edged to slip for0.Batting was not easy, and the deteriorating light didn’t help. ShahriarNafees, who in the first passage of play cut a confident figure eitherleaving the ball or flicking to leg, got bogged down by Muralitharan andthrew it all away. The bowler proposed, tossing one up outside off stump,but Nafees’ peculiarly atrocious attempt at a slog back down the grounddisposed it to mid-off’s lap. He made 29 from 77 deliveries.Deteriorating light forced Jayawardene to turn to Tillakaratne Dilshan,who started off from around the stumps to get some drift into the pads,and with his quick round-arm action had the batsmen on the back footbefore the umpires decided the light wasn’t good enough. MohammadAshraful, batting on 4, was only too keen to get back inside.Inclement weather is likely to have its say throughout this game, and thefirst day has proven to be a very damp affair.