Rahim shines in rain
Sports Reporter
Only 26 overs were possible as rain marred the second day's play of the three-day warm-up match between Bangladesh and Sri Lanka A at the Colts Cricket Ground in Colombo yesterday.After resuming the day on 183 for 5, Bangladesh progressed to 245 for eight after umpires called off the day's proceedings in the afternoon because of the heavy rain. Young batsman Mushfiqur Rahim was batting on 33 as tail-ender Shahadat Hossain accompanied him with 24. Bangladesh, in their first tour match, progressed slowly as overnight batsmen Habibul Bashar, on 60, and Khaled Mashud, on 7, played out four maidens in a row early on. Bashar was first to be dismissed when he was trapped in front of his stumps by seamer Akalanka Ganegama. The former captain added only three to his overnight score in which he struck five boundaries. But his knock was a good outing for him ahead of the Test match at the R Premadasa on June 25. Coming in at number eight, Rahim was off the mark quickly but he saw two wickets -- that of Mashud and all-rounder Mohammad Sharif -- fall in quick succession to left-arm fast bowler Chanaka Welegedara. Both batsmen were given lbw as the leg-before count for the match went up to four after Sharif was out first ball. Mashud, in a bid to occupy the crease, faced 81 balls to score only eight runs. But that was all the success on the day for the Sri Lankan second-string side. The pair of Mushfiqur and Shahadat took control of the situation as they played quite confidently to frustrate the local attack as they added 47 runs for the ninth wicket. The hosts resorted to their spin attack within the first hour's play when first day's hero Rangana Herath was introduced by captain Thilan Samaraweera in the 17th over in the morning. 19-year-old Rahim took care of both the spin of Herath and legspinner Kaushal Lokuarachchi and pace of Welegedara and Ganegama with ease as he struck five fours in his 63-ball stay at the crease. Rahim, who played two Tests back in 2005 against England, is bidding to claim a spot in the first Test. Shahadat, who chaperoned Mashrafe Bin Mortaza last month in Chittagong against India, again showed mettle with the willow as he supported Rahim to score 24 off only 37 balls. He hit two boundaries. Left-arm spinner Herath bagged three wickets and Welegedara two.
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