At stumps on day 3…

Sri Lanka – defining consolidation.

The only way Prasanna should be sent out top open in test cricket is if he loses a rock paper sicossor throwdown with Sangakkara and Dilshan. Seems luck is on PJ’s side these days.

It was a stop start day for Sri Lanka, with the top 4 getting starts and then getting bored.

Mahela was like his Zimbabwe self again, unsure and slow. This is why we always say dont judge a book by a century against Bangladesh. Jayawardene was hesitant throughout his stay, maybe it was that he wanted to make sure SL got into a good position, unfortunately he went about doing it the wrong way.

Sangakkara again dissapointed. Its unlike Sanga to throw away a start but thats exactly what he has been doing through out this series. His concentration seems to be off. Fix it.

Then Thilan and Dilshan took the thing over and showed how its done. Dilshan is having a great 50th test. You cant argue with over 200 runs to his name in the test. Thilan does what he does best, score runs and look solid while doing it.

With the lead over 450 and 2 days to go, can you guess who will win ?

Bangladesh – not interested in winning.

After a good first session, post lunch started with no slips, no gullys and boundary riders.

The only way Bangladesh stood a chance was if they got wickets which seemed to be the least of their concerns.

Dropped catches and missed run outs didn’t help either.

By  the time the new ball was taken, Bangladesh were all but out of it, much to my annoyance and possibly the Bangladeshi fans them selves, they opened up with 1 slip and next to nothing in terms of attacking fields.

It was a long dragged out day where both teams tried to out bluff each other, Bangladesh set defensive fields and wanted SL to go for their shots, SL had none of it and batted on slowly waiting for Bangladesh to tire and fall down.

Bangladesh – Go directly to jail, you may not pass go or collect 200 rupees.

Play of the day

When Mahela asked Sahadat Hussain to stop grunting like a manly Sharapova.

Does anyone know why Shahadat feels the need to grunt in the first place. His fastest today was 132.8.

3 Comments

  1. insideEdge said:

    damiths-
    Don’t be too harsh on Ashraful’s captaincy. He is but a novice and merely copying that experienced and wise captain Mahela!

    As for Mahela’s batting, it was evident that he was planning on grinding out a century in his 100th test. Fortunately he did not get that undeserved accolade – a century for Mahela would have made him the 2nd least deserving after Alec Stewart.

    Should SL get 550 ahead I wonder how long it will be before Mahela does away with slips? Fortunately Splendid bowls so straight he requires no such assistance.

    Warnapura has had a decent game but he has a glaring technical flaw in that his bat comes from gully and is always likely to crash in to his front pad (much the way he got the first baller against Shahadat on debut). This makes him a walking wicket against the swinging ball and also reduces the range of strokes he can play. Graeme Smith used to have a similar problem but seems to have largely ironed it out – which is the reason he has kept his nuts intact against Australia if not his fingers! I hope Warnapura corrects his flaw because he has a good temperament to be a test opener.

    January 5, 2009
    Reply
  2. damiths said:

    Inside> I also like Warnapura but at the moment it looks like he has only one shot, the drive.

    You are right about his technical flaws, he is a sitting duck for a bit of movement and just outside his off.

    We can only hope Warnapura can sort himself out like Smith.

    Cant wait to see what MJ does on the field today !~

    January 6, 2009
    Reply
  3. sam said:

    yet another BD mauling, yet another milestone for SL…..God m sick of this!!

    cant SL play some aggressive cricket against top teams ?

    why do u have to set a target of 623 to BD ? scared after 421 in 1st test ?

    that was fluke!!

    Why is MJ so unsecure ? Doesnt he have faith in Ms or is he just behind chasing milestones not bothering about the spirits of cricket being murdered ?

    January 6, 2009
    Reply

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