Asian Test Final: Championship nuggets (13 March 1999)
Pakistan were successful in earning all four bowling bonus points on the first day while Sri Lanka got only two points from their batting
13-Mar-1999
13 March 1999
Asian Test Final: Championship nuggets
Hasan Masood
Pakistan- 4, Sri Lanka - 2
Pakistan were successful in earning all four bowling bonus points on
the first day while Sri Lanka got only two points from their batting.
Pakistan, who lost the toss and were sent to field first by Aravinda
de Silva, had a happy opening day as they went on to bowl Sri Lanka
out for 231 runs in 78 overs.
According to the Asian Test Championship rules, any team capturing
nine to ten wickets in the first 100 overs of the first innings will
be awarded with maximum four points as bonus.
Sri Lanka, on the other hand, had to remain satisfied with only two
points from batting as they scored only 231 runs before being all out.
The rule says any team scoring 225 to 299 runs in the first 100 overs
of the first innings is liable to get two points. Bonus points for
batting starts from 150 runs.
Shepherd 47 n.o
David Shepherd is very happy to be appointed as one of the two
'neutral' umpires for the inaugural Asian Test Championship final
alongside New Zealand's Douglas Cowie.
The portly Englishman, who also had the distinction of officiating
the 1996 World Cup final between Australia and Sri Lanka at Lahore
along with Steve Bucknor of West Indies, was talking to The Daily
Star yesterday.
According to David, who also came to Dhaka last year for umpiring in
the Wills International Cup, this was the 47th Test match he was
officiating. He began his Test umpiring career with the
England-Australia match at Manchester way back in the summer of 1985.
Celebrated Yorkshireman Dickie Bird was the other umpire in that
match, which ended in a draw.
"My first Test match and the 1996 World Cup final are the two
memorable matches in my life," said David, who played county cricket
for Gloucestershire from 1965 to 1979.
Arshad defies 'no-turn' pitch
For any bowler, a five-wicket haul is a dream. And for Pakistan
off-spinner Arshad Khan, who returned with his career best bowling
figures of 5/38 on the first day, it was more than a dream-cometrue
in his third Test appearance.
"It makes me feel good that finally I have got five wickets in an
innings of a Test match. I always worked hard and today I have got
the result," said the tall Pathan, who played for Surjo Tarun in the
Dhaka league that concluded last month.
"I was quite demoralised for being left on the bench in the last two
Tests against India and Sri Lanka. But now I am excited for being
able to show my talent," said Arshad, whose previous best bowling
figures were 3/73 against Australia last year.
He also revealed that he did not get any help from the pitch as the
ball did not turn much.
Cat in the bag
Two Sports Reporters from "Pakkhik Kriralok", a leading national
sports fortnightly, have been denied media accreditation by the
Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) to cover the final.
The same two--Nasimul Hasan Dodul and Saifur Rahman Chowdhury--were
also denied accreditation to cover the Wills International Cup held
in the city last October.
On inquiry yesterday, it was learnt that the two reporters have been
denied by the BCB for criticising the board in an article published
last year.
"I have been instructed by the board not to issue accreditation cards
to these two particular reporters. We are ready to issue
accreditation to anyone else from that magazine but not to these two.
I don't know the reason why," said Jalal Younus, secretary of the BCB
Media Committee (print) yesterday.
When this correspondent contacted BCB general secretary Syed Ashraful
Huq later in the evening, he opted not to comment.
The incident questioned the board's attitude towards the press. Can
they deny a reporter for simply criticising them? Or, is there a
bigger cat in the bag?
Source :: The Bangladesh Daily Star (https://www.dailystarnews.com)