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.
