Tigers can hold their heads high

Bangladesh's bold attempt to rewrite the record books fell 107 runs short on the final day of the first Test against Sri Lanka at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium yesterday.
The last day of 2008 could have had a special place in the annals of Test cricket but the Tigers nonetheless made the country proud with a fine showing of aggressive intent mixed with caution in their approach. They made 413 runs while chasing a never-before-achieved 521 in the fourth innings, ending the year with a lot of promise. If not the grandest record, Bangladesh made sure they easily went past their previous highest fourth innings total of 285 for 5 made against Zimbabwe in 2004. It was the eleventh highest total in the final innings of a Test match.
Captain Mohammad Ashraful struck his fifth Test hundred, four of which have now come against Sri Lanka. He smashed three boundaries off the spinners early in the morning, forcing Mahela Jayawardene to take the second new ball. Ashraful eyed his century and with his sixteenth boundary, blasted over the head of the mid-off fieldsman, Ashraful reached a century off 181 balls. But an over later, Ashraful was trapped leg-before by Chaminda Vaas, also ending a fine 112-run sixth wicket stand with Shakib Al Hasan, the man of the match.
Despite the departure of Ashraful before the lunch break, Bangladesh innings continued to flourish with Shakib and Mushfiqur Rahim producing another century stand much to fear of a vaunted Lankan attack.
Shakib cracked seven boundaries but his eighth attempt took an inside edge and dragged the ball on to the stumps as he missed his maiden hundred by just four runs. The left-hander had handled the Lankan attack till that point -- driving, sweeping and pulling quite well. His slog-sweeps off Muttiah Muralidaran were confident and he reached his half-century with a lofted cover drive off the same bowler. Shakib's 287-ball knock of 96 was all the more special as he added 111 runs with Mushfiqur Rahim, a Bangladesh record for the seventh wicket.
Rahim again proved his worth as a batsman with his fourth half-century in Tests, making 61 off 156 balls. His seven boundaries came all around the wicket but what was most heartening to see was how he farmed the strike with the tail-enders at the other end. Interestingly Rahim now has his name in the highest fifth, sixth and seventh wicket partnerships for Bangladesh.
The Sri Lankan captain had a concerned look on his face throughout the first session and employed defensive fields to cut off the boundaries even though he had the cushion of having 500-plus runs.
It was inevitable that once the Shakib-Rahim partnership was broken, Bangladesh's hopes would end too. Muralidaran duly picked up his 22nd 10-wicket haul, taking four for 141 from 48 overs while paceman Prasad had three. The series now moves to Chittagong for the second Test match from January 3.