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Sri Lanka whip Bangladesh

Aravinda DeSilva narrowly missed out on a century as Sri Lanka began its campaign in the Asia Cup with a thumping nine-wicket victory over hosts Bangladesh in the opening match of the tournament in Dhaka on Monday.

The swashbuckling batsman hit an unbeaten 96 off only 93 balls as the former World champions cruised to victory with 19.2 overs to spare, after restricting the minnows to 175 for six in 50 overs.

DeSilva, who opened the innings with Sanath Jayasuriya, looked in top form as he slammed 13 boundaries, including three sixes. He and his skipper put on 66 runs for the first wicket off just 69 balls as Bangladesh paid the price for dropping DeSilva when he was on 13, the offender being Naimur Rehman.

Jayasuriya was the only Lankan wicket to fall, stumped after making 28, but Marvan Atapattu (41 not out) kept DeSilva good company in an unbroken stand of 112 for the second wicket to seal the match.

DeSilva was named man-of-the-match.

AFP adds: The opening match, originally scheduled to be played on Sunday, was put off by a day because of heavy rain in the region.

Bangladesh, looking to showcase their talent before next month's crucial decision to grant them Test status, struggled for runs after being sent to bat in overcast conditions.

The hosts were reduced to 27 for three before opener Javed Omar and former captain Akram Khan retrieved the situation by adding 75 for the fourth wicket.

Omar carried his bat for an unbeaten 85, his first international half-century that contained three fours and a six against off-spinner Muthiah Murlitharan.

The burly Akram hit 41, but none of the other batsmen reached 20.

Left-arm seamer Chaminda Vaas finished with two for 28 from 10 overs. Teenage newcomer Kaushalya Weeraratne impressed with 1 for 18 in seven, including the wicket of skipper Aminul Islam with his fifth ball in international cricket.

"It was good to get a winning start after a long lay-off," Sri Lankan captain Jayasuriya said.

"I was a bit apprehensive since we had not played international cricket since the tour of Pakistan in February-March, but De Silva and the others looked in fine touch.

"It was just the start we needed ahead of the tougher games against India and Pakistan," he said.

Bangladesh captain Aminul Islam praised opening batsman Omar, but said his team did not score enough runs to put the Sri Lankans under pressure. "I was very happy for Javed, who lived up to the promise he has been showing in recent months," he said. "Akram supported him well, but I was disappointed that none of the other batsmen could emulate them. Even though the outfield was heavy because of the rain, we should have got more."

Bangladesh have a chance to make amends when they meet India in their next match on Tuesday.

Scoreboard

Bangladesh
Shahriar Hossain c de Silva b Vaas 2
Javed Omar not out 85
Habibul Basher c Chandana b Vaas 1
Aminul Islam c Chandana b Weeraratne 5
Akram Khan c Vaas b De Silva 41
Naimur Rehman run out 0
Khalid Mashud c Jayawardena b Murlitharan 18
Mohammad Rafique not out 11
Extras: (b2, lb4, w3, nb3) 12
Total (for six wickets) 175
Fall of wickets: 1-6, 2-11, 3-27, 4-102, 5-102, 6-159
Bowling: Vaas 10-0-28-2, Zoysa 7-0-30-0, Weeraratne 7-1-18-1, Murlitharan 10-0-35-1, Chandana 4-0-17-0, Jayasuriya 8-0-23-0, De Silva 4-1-18-1
Overs: 50

Sri Lanka
S. Jayasuriya st Mashud b Rafique 28
A. De Silva not out 96
M. Atapattu not out 41
Extras: (lb2, w6, nb5) 13
Total (for one wicket) 178
Fall of wicket: 1-66
Bowling: Hasibul 5-0-38-0, Monjurul 7-0-33-0, Mahmud 4.4-0-40-0, Rafique 10-0-42-1, Naimur 4-0-23-0
Overs: 30.4

Result: Sri Lanka won by nine wickets

Man of the match: Aravinda De Silva (Sri Lanka)

Tuesday's match: India v Bangladesh