Mash satisfied with bowling

Mashrafe Bin Mortaza expressed satisfaction after his first competitive game at the Fatullah Cricket Stadium yesterday since recovering from a thumb injury.

The right-arm paceman -- who had sustained an injury on his thumb during the New Zealand tour -- was initially struggling to find his rhythm after coming in to bowl for the first time in over two months, but he gradually improved during a practice match between Team Green and Team Red.

He bowled eight overs without any success but said: "Initially I struggled with my run-up and I also bowled no balls. I just started bowling few days back, so this practice match helped me lot. I still have one week in hand and I hope everything will be okay," said the Team Green skipper, whose team lost the match to the Nasir Hossain-led Team Red by four wickets.

Mashrafe will fly for Colombo tomorrow to lead the Tigers in the three-match ODI and two-match T20I series against Sri Lanka.

He added that the Tigers would have to play their best cricket to beat a young Sri Lankan side, but he was not willing to make any comments on the current controversy surrounding Mahmudullah Riyad's omission from the second Test and inclusion in the ODI team.

Selector Habibul Bashar also expressed his satisfaction over Mashrafe's bowling fitness, saying: "His bowling looked fine to me. Mashrafe bowled with a full run-up and everything was okay."