Asia cup-2012 Sri Lanka gather almost 232

An inspired performance in the field put Bangladesh in a good position to extend Sri Lanka's miserable win in the tournament and halt India's chances of making the final. Shafiul Islam's injury turned out to be a blessing in disguise for Bangladesh as his replacement, Nazmul Hossain, rattled Sri Lanka's top order with three wickets and gave them the early caffeine boost, before the spinners thwarted any significant resistance from Sri Lanka's middle order to keep them to a middling 231. However, the threat facing Bangladesh would be the dark clouds, which looked ominous as it rained wickets towards the end.
Chamara Kapugedera and Lahiru Thirimanne added 88 for the third wicket, but one of them needed to bat through the innings to set a competitive target. Upul Tharanga made a breezy fifty, but not for the first time since his demotion has he had to repair the damage done to the top order, again raising questions about the structure of the batting line-up.
Bangladesh came out with a sense of purpose, fielding with intent after winning the toss. They were aided by a surface which, though not the same used for the India-Pakistan game, appeared slower and suited their crop of bowlers. The seamers bowled several slower deliveries to tighten the noose on the run-rate, which
Nazmul's start was inauspicious - he was thrashed past backward point by Tillakaratne Dilshan off the his first ball, but he struck back quickly by removing his partner. Mahela Jayawardene missed a straight one and had his off stump knocked back.
Sri Lanka persisted with Kumar Sangakkara, who has been inconsistent of late, at No.3. He wasn't allowed to dominate at the start, as the alert infield did its best to limit the quick singles. He survived two close run-out chances, and in an attempt to break free drove Nazmul on the up to Nazimuddin at extra cover. Dilshan was found out by the slowness of the pitch when he tried to cut Nazmul and ended up dragging it to the base of the middle stump.
The loss of wickets dented the run-rate, as Sri Lanka could only manage 32 off the first ten overs. After a brief dry spell, Thirimanne eased a boundary down the ground off Shahadat Hossain, before sweeping and cutting the left-arm spinners behind the wicket. Kapugedera, under pressure to keep his place, made good use of his promotion, using his feet to the spinners. A stroke of luck, though, gave Bangladesh the breakthrough when Thirimanne nudged Abdur Razzak off his pads and was stumped after the ball deflected off Mushfiqur Rahim's pads.
Tharanga's arrival perked up the scoring, as he punished a wayward Shahadat for three quick boundaries. The batting Powerplay yielded 28 runs with two boundaries. Kapugedera, under pressure to keep his place, managed a face-saving half-century, but his innings was cut short by some sharp reflexes by Shakib Al Hasan at extra cover. Shakib struck with the ball soon after, getting Farveez Maharoof to edge to the keeper and trapping Nuwan Kulasekara lbw.
Tharanga stepped down the track to Shakib to launch the only six of the innings, in the 45th over. Sachitra Senanayake gave Sri Lanka a late surge to lift them to a target which could still test the hosts, despite their renewed confidence after chasing 290 against India. The drizzle picked up and the covers came on during the innings break. If play resumes, Sri Lanka would hope the rain spices up the pitch. There is, however, the provision of a reserve day if rain has its say this evening.

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