Same old Tigers

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There are few things more tedious than the way the second day’s play of the third and final Test wound down yesterday, as rain continued to play havoc with proceedings here at the Asgiriya Stadium.
But if rain was the main culprit, then the Bangladesh batsmen were not far behind - putting forth another feeble show, to make the situation gloomier, as they crashed to 131 all out. The only person who could count himself happy was predictably Muttiah Muralidaran, the off-spinner who claimed his 59th five-for with figures of 6 for 28.

After ninety minutes of play in the morning session, the match was halted for over four hours following heavy downpour and when the action resumed in the afternoon, only 8.2 overs could be managed within three short breaks before the umpires finally called off play due to bad light. The Sri Lanka openers Michael Vandort (25) and Upul Tharanga (4) batted through the short spell to finish the day on 30 without loss.

But even the shortened morning session was time enough for Bangladesh to return to their, by now routine, dismal first-inning showing. Resuming on 72-4, they lost their remaining six wickets for 69 runs, just half an hour before the lunch break.

Rain, when it came, was too late for the Tigers as the Sri Lankan bowlers had them under wraps by that time. It ensured that Bangladesh’s first inning misery in the series would continue after they were bundled out for 89 and 62 in the last two Tests in Colombo.

With seven fielders on the off-side, left-arm paceman Sujeewa de Silva tempted the two overnight batsmen Mohammad Ashraful and Tushar Imran to fall prey to expansive drives.

Tushar Imran was the first victim of this trap as his flashing drive reached the safe hands of Mahela Jayawardene at second slip on 17.

And four overs later, a seemingly composed captain Ashraful fished at one outside off-stump getting the edge to wicketkeeper Prasanna Jayawardene to follow his partner back to the pavilion.

The departure of Ashraful, who scored 26 off 51 deliveries with the help of three boundaries, simply opened the door for Muralidaran to put more feathers on his cap. It once again proved that the Bangladesh tail-end has hardly any clue against his bowling.

Muralidaran took a return catch of Mohammad Rafique, who skied the ball, to complete his 100-wicket haul at the venue after achieving the same record at the Sinhalese Sports Club ground and in Galle.

With yesterday’s success Muralidaran improved his tally to 694, just 15 wickets away from breaking Shane Warne’s world record of 709 wickets.

Even the dull and drab atmosphere did not dissuade the small crowd who cheered every success of their local hero.

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