User:Ozzykhan/Sandbox

link 1: 2001-2002 link 2: 1998-1999

2nd test
The second Test match of the 2001-02 Asian Test Championship was between Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. The match was held at the Sinhalese Sports Club Ground in Colombo, Sri Lanka. It was the first Test between the two sides and to mark the occassion, the Board of Control for Cricket in Sri Lanka made entrace free at five enclosures at the stadium. The BCCSL also established prize money for the match, with the winning team earning SLRs.70,000, the losing team SLRs. 40,000 and the Man of the Match earning SLRs. 25,000

This Test was the second meeting of the two sides in international cricket; Sri Lanka beat Bangladesh in an ODI during the 1997 Asia Cup. Prior to this match, Bangladesh had lost four Test matches in a row, and their coach Trevor Chappell was expecting this Test to be a learning experience for the side rather than an oppurtunity to win their first match. Following Bangladesh's batting collapse in the first match of the championship against Pakistan at the hands of leg spinner Danish Kaneria, Bangladesh was expected to perform better with the bat, especially against the in-form Muralitharan who took 23 wickets in 3 Tests against India.

Sri Lanka was entering the match after a 2 - 1 series win over India. Sanath Jayasuriya, the Sri Lankan skipper warned ahead of the game that his team can not afford to relax and was expecting good perfomance against the newest Test nation. Historically, Sri Lanka have had a winning record at the Sinhalese Sports Club Ground, with Chaminda Vaas and Muralitharan taking career bests at this venue. The pitch was not expected to deteriorate in the first three days and was assumed to support fast bowlers. Both teams made changes to their teams for this match. Sri Lankan pacer Dilhara Fernando was ruled out due a groin strain and was replaced by Ravindra Pushpakumara. Additionally, underperforming batsman Russel Arnold and fast bowler Dulip Liyanage were replaced by Michael Vandort and Ruchira Perera respectively. For Bangladesh, Akram Khan and Enamul Haque were replaced by Mohammad Ashraful and Al Sahariar. This was the first Test match for Michael Vandort and Mohammad Ashraful.