Lanka eyeing a win again Bangladesh

KARACHI: Bangladesh may not concede an inch without a fight but going by form and depth, Sri Lanka should not break a sweat to tame the tigers in the Asia Cup Super Four stage match here on Monday.

Sri Lanka thumped Bangladesh by 131 runs in their previous meeting in the group stage at Lahore and Mohammad Ashraful's teammates would have to pull off a huge upset on Monday if they are to stop the Sri Lankans.

As they learnt from their previous match experience, Sri Lanka's hard-hitting opening pair of Kumar Sangakkara and Sanath Jayasuirya is enough to snatch the momentum, and effectively the game, and they need to come up with something special to curb the left-handed duo on Monday.

Newcomer Mahela Udawatte, who opened with Sangakkara against UAE, has got into the groove early and is a tough customer, and Sri Lanka also has a middle order mainstay in skipper Mahela Jayawardene.

A superior attack also gives the Lankans a clear edge and mystery spinner Ajantha Mendis has already got into wicket-taking business, claiming a five-for against the hapless UAE batsmen.

With their attack struggling to find penetration, Bangladesh would rely on their batsmen to put up a decent show on Monday.

Captain Mohammad Ashraful and Alok Kapali already have hundreds against their names, while Tamim Iqbal too has been among runs. Against India, the Bangla batsmen posted a competitive 283 for six even though the bowlers could not defend the score.

Bangladesh: Mohammad Ashraful (c), Mashrafe Mortaza, Abdur Razzak, Alok Kapali, Dolar Mahmud, Farhad Reza, Mahmudullah, Mehrab Hossain Jr, Mosharraf Hossain, Mushfiqur Rahim, Nazimuddin, Raqibul Hasan, Shahadat Hossain, Shahriar Nafees, Tamim Iqbal.

Sri Lanka:  Mahela Jayawardene (c), Tillakaratne Dilshan, Dilhara Fernando, Sanath Jayasuriya, Chamara Kapugedera, Nuwan Kulasekara, Ajantha Mendis, Thilan Thushara, Jehan Mubarak, Muttiah Muralitharan, Kumar Sangakkara, Chamara Silva, Mahela dawatte, Chaminda Vaas, Kaushalya Weeraratne.