Asia Cup 2008

200 run opening partnership takes Sri Lanka home comfortably

The Asia Cup Super Four match between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh remained one sided as soon as Jayasuriya and Sangakkara opened the Sri Lankan innings. The Lankans were given a thunderous start as both their openers got a century each.

Jayasuriya scored 130 of just 88 balls and his innings included 6 sixes and 16 fours - if you calculate properly, thats a 100 runs from boundaries. Kapali got rid of Jayasuriya when Sri Lanka was 201 - job done well but late. The party did not end there, Sangakkara continued the good job and though he did not find support at the other end, he scored a brilliant 121 of just 128 balls. His was an innings of composure and good sense as he knew that he had to complete the job that Jayasuriya had started - to take Sri Lanka to an unachievable total. And a total they did reach.

Bangladesh got a decent start but soon started losing wickets at regular intervals. Mohammed Nazimuddin and Raqibul Hasan were the only pair that provided some resistance and scored 47 and 52 runs respectively. After they departed, the remainder of the team played unsignificant single digit innings.

Bangladesh still need to learn how to cope with pressure, and it is high time that the Bangladesh Cricket Board do something about this. Bangladesh falter everytime when something is expected from them, specially as expectations soared after their match with India where they performed exceptionally well.

Bangladesh are now out of the Asia Cup and will only be playing their formality match against Pakistan.

As for Sri Lanka, they have grown in confidence and their performance is improving with every match. Jayasuriya is getting better with age and the understanding between the top 3 openers will always remain an advantage for Sri Lanka when they play the finals.

For Muralitharan, it was like just another day at the office. He took 5 wickets for Sri Lanka and gave away only 31 runs in his stipulated 10 overs. Mendis and Vaas created the pressure initially alongwith the wickets while Thushara proved a bit expensive.

Tomorrow’s match is probably going to get the crowd back in the stadiums as India play Pakistan. The home crowd is sure going to create a pressure situation for India as Pakistan need to win the match desperately to remain alive in the tournament.

Tags: Asia Cup 2008, Bangladesh, jayasuriya, match review, mohammed nazimuddin, murali, muralitharan, raqibul hasan, Sangakkara, score, sri lanka