COLOMBO — Bangladesh skipper Mushfiqur Rahim is confident that his team can take advantage of a depleted Sri Lankan squad and secure a maiden Test win over its opponent in the two-match series starting in Galle Friday. “Sri Lanka is a good team but it's not impossible to win against them,” Mushfiqur told reporters Thursday. “Our younger players are coming through very well and we are very confident that if they put their hands up in the field we'll have a competitive test series.” Bangladesh has played Sri Lanka in 12 Tests since 2001 and lost all of them. Mushfiqur's confidence is borne by the fact that its main tormentor of the past, off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan, is not around to bamboozle its batsmen. Muralitharan, who retired from Test cricket in 2010 with a record haul of 800 Test wickets, is the leading wicket-taker for Sri Lanka against Bangladesh with 89 wickets from 11 tests. Sri Lanka is also without two of its experienced middle order batsmen, Mahela Jayawardene (injury) and Thilan Samaraweera, who announced his retirement from international cricket Wednesday. Sri Lanka will be led by a new skipper in Angelo Mathews, who will become the youngest to lead his country in a Test match at the age of 25 years. “The most important thing for us is to have a balance in the team with seniors and youngsters. I am sure the youngsters will take the opportunity and use it to the maximum,” Mathews said. “Bangladesh are here to play some good cricket and we cannot treat them lightly.” The good news for Sri Lanka is that top-order batsman Kumar Sangakkara has been declared fit and will play his first competitive match in almost three months. Sangakkara suffered a fracture on his left index finger when he was hit by a ball from Australia fast bowler Mitchell Johnson during the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne and has been recovering from the injury since. The only other experienced batsman in the side, which is filled with youngsters, is opener Tillakaratne Dilshan. With Dinesh Chandimal taking over the wicketkeeping position from Prasanna Jayawardene for the series, the No. 7 spot in the lineup has become vacant for either a batsman or an all-rounder. Pakistan scrambles to 1-wkt win Pakistan scrambled to a one-wicket win with two balls to spare against a makeshift South African Invitation XI at the Diamond Oval Wednesday. Last wicket pair Abdur Rehman (35 not out) and Junaid Khan (nine not out) put on an unbeaten 28 to take their team to victory in their only warm-up match before a five-game One-Day International series against South Africa, starting in Bloemfontein Sunday. The Invitation team, including only players not involved in two domestic franchise Twenty20 matches on Wednesday, made 266 for eight in their 50 overs, with the major contribution coming from 20-year-old left-hander Quinton de Kock. He hit 65 off 73 balls. No Pakistan batsman reached 50, with Imran Farhat (40) and Kamran Akmal (47) the most successful batsmen. — Agencies
