Bangladesh beat Sri Lanka in Asia Cup opener
Dubai, Sep 16 : Bangladesh dominated with both bat and ball to outclass Sri Lanka by 137 runs in the opening match of the Asia Cup cricket tournament here on Saturday.
Electing to bat first, Bangladesh rode Mushfiqur Rahim's career-best score of 144 runs to post what eventually turned out be a pretty competitive total of 261 in 49.3 overs.
Chasing what should have been an achievable target, the Sri Lankan chase never really gained any momentum and they were dismissed for 124 runs in 35.2 overs.
The islanders were off to disastrous start when Kusal Mendis misread the pace of a Mustafizur delivery in the second over, played across the line, and was hit in the pads plump in front.
Mortaza got rid of Upul Tharanga -- the other Sri Lankan opener -- in the very next over with a peach of a delivery which pitched on the off-stump line and moved in to disturb the stumps.
Mortaza then got rid of Dhananjaya de Silva in his next over to leave Sri Lanka struggling at 32/3 in the fifth over.
The Lankans continued to lose wickets at regular intervals. When Mehdi Hasan got rid of Thisara Perera to reduce the former World Cup champions to 69/7 in the 19th over, the match was as good as over.
Earlier, veteran pacer Lasith Malinga enjoyed a wonderful return to international action with figures of 4/23.
The 35-year-old, who was missing in action for around a year due to fitness issues, started with a bang when he sent back Liton Das and the experienced Shakib Al Hasan off consecutive balls in the opening over.
But Mushfiqur and Mithun put on a partnership of 133 runs in 24.3 overs to give a solid foundation to the Bangladesh innings. Mithun scored 63 runs off 68 balls before becoming Malinga's third victim in the 26th over.
Mushfiqur continued to battle on before Thisara Perera dismissed him in the 50th over to bring the Bangladesh innings to an end.
Brief scores:
Bangladesh: 261 in 49.3 overs (Mushfiqur Rahim 144, Mohammad Mithun 63; Lasith Malinga 4/23) vs Sri Lanka: 124 in 35.2 over (Mustafizur Rahman 2/20, Mehdi Hasan 2/21, Mashrafe Mortaza 2/25).
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Man sets fire to gas cylinder on truck in Kerala's Kottayam, held
Kottayam(Kerala) (PTI): A 33-year-old man climbed onto a parked truck carrying cooking gas cylinders and set fire to one of them near Thalayolaparambu in the small hours of Saturday, police said.
The incident occurred around 12.30 am, they said.
The fire and rescue personnel soon arrived at the scene and extinguished the fire, averting a major disaster.
According to police, the man is suspected to be under mental distress as he claimed that he was walking from Ernakulam to his home in Marangattupilly here when he saw the truck on the roadside.
An FIR under sections 329(3)(criminal trespass),324(2)(mischief),326(f)(mischief by injury, inundation, fire or explosive substance) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita was lodged against him.
Police said that the man was formally arrested, but will be released on station bail as the offences he is accused of are bailable.
"His family is here at the station and he will be released to them," the officer said.
In the FIR, police have said that the man opened the seal of one of the gas cylinders and set fire to it with the knowledge that his act was dangerous to those living in the area.
According to the company transporting the cooking gas cylinders, it suffered a loss of Rs 2,300 in the incident.
