Bangladesh falls short of a miracle by CricketArchive Staff Reporter

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Event:

Sri Lanka in Bangladesh 2008/09

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DateLine: 31st December 2008

 

Bangladesh nearly pulled of a heist and Sri Lanka will be thanking their stars that the Bangladeshi batsmen ran out off gas towards the end. Off the batsmen Ashraful, Shakib and Rahim capitalised on their starts and they must be wondering what would have been the end result had the top order also showed some patience. The amazing aspect of their second innings attempt for glory chase was the way they neutralised the Murali factor. Herath was rendered ineffective, Vaas was more off a trundler and Prasad was too much involved in bowling short. The return of Mendis will boost Jayawardene as his mysterious carrom balls will be of different challenge for the Bangladeshi batsmen.

 

In a month where two mammoth fourth-inning targets where chased down with alarming regularity, Bangladesh scared the daylights out of Sri Lanka. The chase was on and the intent was seen from the first few overs in the morning. Instead of being bogged down Ashraful remained positive against the spin duo of Murali and Herath. The tail was just two wickets away from being exposed and both the overnight duo realised the fact. Ashraful got the fifth morning off the mark with a single off Muttiah Muralitharan who tried to exploit the rough close the crease, backed by a ring field. Ashraful used his feet well against Murali and found the early boundaries to inject some momentum into the chase. Herath who is a decent tweaker but not as mysterious and effective as Mendis was rendered ineffective by Ashraful's brilliant use of the feet.

 

Mahela Jayawardene in dire need of a breakthrough, opted for the new ball as soon as it was available but it was neutered. The new ball bowlers Vaas and Prasad in search of swing and cut pitched it up full and outside off in hope of enticing for a false drive from Ashraful, but he was upto the task by just letting the ball pass through to the keeper. The moment came when he played Vaas over mid-off and the roar from the young lion showed how much this century meant to him. But he got out at the wrong time and his dismissal broke Bangladesh's hearts. Vaas trapped him plumb when he missed his intended flick on the onside. The disappointment was very much seen on his face. When the finger went up he must have felt the weight on his already slender shoulders getting heavier. Jayawardene went up to him to show his appreciation of the innings that unfolded before his eyes. Shakib and Mushfiqur meanwhile ensured the chase didn't go out of hand with a frustrating century stand. Shakib slog-swept Murali and reached his fifty with a drive through extra cover and also slogged him over the same area. Mushfiqur showed good application against the spinners, stepping down the track and grafting the singles by getting to the pitch of the ball and the pair continued through to lunch.

 

Post Lunch it seemed Bangladesh would stretch Sri Lanka and may pull off a heist but then the dream was too good to last. Both the batsmen were involved in a spunky 111 run association in around 34 overs. the session after lunch, Sri Lanka went into a defensive mind-set and slightly opened up their field. The young batsmen cleverly played with the field and took the single easily to keep the score board moving. When the pair crossed over for a single in the 118th over with a leg bye, the hundred run association was raised. The way Shakib played was commendable as he mixed caution with defense. Whenever the bowlers erred in line he took them on. He was closing on to his century but on 96 he played on from a delivery from the hardworking Prasad onto his stumps to disrupt the dangerous partnership. The way he trudged out from the ground showed his disappointment and the self-belief that he could have pulled it out for Bangladesh. At that time they needed 118 runs and then the rest of the batsmen could not find the resolve to stick around and go for the target and it was too much for Rahim to go for the glory. The last three wickets fell for just 10 runs in space off 33 balls, in which Prasad and Murali claimed a wicket each and then run-out to end the innings.

 

Sri Lanka won the match by 107 runs but the end result will not show how close the match turned out to be. At one stage survival was seemed to be their only option and then when it looked like they would go down in a heap, Ashraful played a blinder of an innings scoring a priceless 101 and then Shakib and Rahim taking them almost across the line. Sri Lanka might have got the fright off their life when Bangladeshi batsmen where coolly chipping away at the target.