Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Sri Lanka defeat spirited Tigers

First Test, Mirpur, day five:
Sri Lanka 293 & 405-6 bt Bangladesh 178 & 413 by 107 runs
Match scorecard

Shakib Al Hasan hugs Mohammad Ashraful
Shakib Al Hasan congratulates Ashraful after the captain reaches his century

Sri Lanka won by the first Test in Mirpur by 107 runs after Bangladesh made a gallant attempt to reach a massive victory target of 521.

The home side's 431 all out was their highest fourth innings total and the fourth highest overall score in Tests.

Skipper Mohammad Ashraful completed his fifth Test century before falling lbw to Chaminda Vaas for 101.

Shakib Al Hasan (96) added 111 with Mushfiqur Rahim before the final four wickets fell for 10 runs in six overs.

Bangladesh had resumed on 254-5 following a 15-minute delay caused by a damp outfield.

Ashraful, starting again on 70, cracked successive boundaries in the second over of the day, before surviving a confident lbw appeal from Dhammika Prasad with the new ball.

Having despatched Vaas to reach three figures in style with a thumping one-bounce four over mid-off, Ashraful then succumbed to the left-arm seamer in his next over.

He tried to work the ball on the leg-side but it straightened, hit him low on the pad and studious umpire Steve Bucknor made an instant decision.

Rahim maintained the positive intent, guiding his first ball down to the third man boundary and Shakib was also full of strokes, reaching his second Test fifty with a firm drive through extra-cover off Muttiah Muralitharan.

The star spinner was on the receiving end two balls later when Shakib launched one from off-stump and slog swept in over mid-on for four more.

The two batsmen took their team safely through to lunch, with Bangladesh having added 119 in the session.

Rahim took the score past 400 following the re-start with a deft late cut through the vacant slip region for four.

But in the next over, four short of a maiden Test century, the left-hander departed in unfortunate fashion when he dragged a wideish delivery from Prasad back on to his stumps.

Prasad struck again in his next over when Mashrafe Mortaza got a thin edge through to the keeper, and Rahim's enterprising innings ended on 67 when he launched Murali into the leg-side but failed to clear mid-wicket.

Five balls later it was all over when Mahbubul Alam drove confidently, only to be run out after slipping when he attempted a third run.

The series concludes with the second Test, which starts in Bogra on Saturday.

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