Spineless Bangladesh crash to new low in Sri Lanka Test by AFP

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Ground:	P Sara Oval, Colombo
Scorecard:	Sri Lanka v Bangladesh
Event:	Bangladesh in Sri Lanka 2005/06

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DateLine: 12th September 2005

 

Wily spinner Muttiah Muralitharan grabbed six wickets in a sensational spell as Sri Lanka whipped Bangladesh by an innings and 96 runs in the opening Test here on Wednesday.

 

The off-spinner finished with 6-18 off just 10.4 overs as cricketing minnows Bangladesh crashed to their lowest-ever total of 86 in the second innings after trailing by 182 runs, to concede a 1-0 lead in the two-match series. Bangladesh's previous lowest total was 87 against the West Indies at Dhaka in 2002.

 

Muralitharan, 33, was virtually unplayable on a turning Premadasa Stadium track as he tormented the Bangladeshi batsmen with his turn and bounce to bag his 47th haul of five or more wickets in an innings in 94 Tests.

 

The Sri Lankan off-spinner, with 558 wickets, is behind only Australian leg-spin genius Shane Warne who has 623 from 128 Tests.

 

Resuming at 36-3, Bangladesh lasted just 18.4 overs on the third morning as none of their batsmen could read man-of-the-match Muralitharan who claimed four of the remaining seven wickets.

 

Skipper Habibul Bashar (15) was the joint top-scorer with Khaled Mashud in yet another spineless Bangladeshi batting performance. The tourists batted just 44 overs in the first innings.

 

Bangladesh have now lost 34 of their 39 matches since gaining Test status in 2000. This was their 23rd defeat by an innings margin.

 

"My 'doosra' has worked well as I have been working on it for a long time," Muralitharan said, referring to the delivery that has fetched him many wickets by turning away from the right-handers instead of coming into them.

 

Fast bowler Lasith Malinga gave valuable support to the off-spinner as he bagged three wickets for 32 runs with his slingling action.

 

Bangladesh captain Bashar said his batsmen needed a vastly-improved performance in the second and final Test starting at the P. Sara stadium in Colombo on September 20. "We did not bat well in the second innings when the ball was turning," he said.

 

"We had a chance to post a big total in the first innings but did not capitalise on it. We are not doing what he have to do. We fielded better, but batting and bowling need to improve."

 

In the first innings, Bangladesh were 155-2 before collapsing to 188.

 

Sri Lanka captain Marvan Atapattu said the bowlers won the Test for the team. "Our bowlers did very little wrong in this match. They (Bangladesh) won the first session of the match, but we did nothing wrong after that."

(Article: Copyright © 2005 AFP)