Jayasuriya overwhelms Bangladesh with a century

Bangladesh 190 (Ashraful 69) lost to Sri Lanka 191 (Jayasuriya 107*, Gunawardene 64*) by 10 wickets
Scorecard

Sanath Jayasuriya returned to his devastating best with an unbeaten 107, and Avishka Gunawardene backed him up impressively with 64 not out, as Sri Lanka rampaged to a ten-wicket victory over Bangladesh with 16 overs to spare. Though Bangladesh's ploy of opening with a slow bowler had been successful in their last match, today it backfired so spectacularly that the effects will probably reverberate over the coming weeks.

Chasing a meagre 191 on the flat Premadasa pitch, Khaled Mahmud fed Jayasuriya one loose delivery after another, and was taken apart for 30 in his first three overs. Runs came in a torrent, and Sri Lanka never looked back. They helped themselves to a bonus point as well, and have all but secured their place in next Sunday's final at the Premadasa Stadium.

When Jayasuriya reached his 100, off 99 balls, the Sri Lankan dressing-room was a picture of relief. He had regained his form, and just in time for the climax of the Asia Cup. His cutting, not fluent to begin with, became so assured that he was able to cut a Mohammad Rafique delivery past the left of the point fielder and, one ball later, cut a similar delivery past his right. No bowler but Abdur Razzaq could restrain him, but it's a job Razzaq did pretty well in his previous games too. But before long, Jayasuriya mastered him as well, and casually biffed him for a couple of boundaries.

His pull shots were firmer, and the ball crossed the boundary after bouncing only once. There were those effortless lifts over the infield, those flicks off his legs. The fans cheered when he took singles off the last ball of the over, for they knew that with every ball he played, with every run he took, his confidence would grow. Gunawardene was his partner in this mauling, and he played his part well. He played few angry strokes, and let Jayasuriya hog the strike. There was no hurry, no worry, and pretty soon, Gunawardene quietly passed his fifty. They made it look a whole lot easier than Bangladesh's batsmen did earlier in the day.

Earlier, Bangladesh had lost four wickets for 31, and you'd have thought they were on a Perth flyer in the 1980s. The ball swung, but not enough to warrant nervous strokeplay. Yet, through a mixture of pokes, prods, and a dismissal involving two players at one end and the ball a foot away from the wicketkeeper, they were up against it. That was when Mohammad Ashraful (69) and Manjarul Islam Rana (44) showed how it could be done.

They defied Muttiah Muralitharan and Upul Chandana, and saw off the quicker bowlers. At first they blocked just about everything, but after 30 overs, they unfurled their strokes. Ashraful flicked Farveez Mahroof, the medium-pacer, over midwicket with ease, and then swept and cover-drove him for boundaries. Manjarul was beaten regularly by the spinners, but maintained his composure to drive and pull with power. They raised the run-rate by swinging lustily, running hard, and being pesky. Both finally fell in the quest for big runs, but their dismissals were understandable, unlike those that fell before they came together.

Bangladesh managed only 190, but it was because Sri Lanka were relentless in every aspect of their game. And, as other teams have found out this series, Bangladesh too realized that it takes more, much more, to give these guys a serious run for their money.