18 July 2004	Sunday	29 Jamadi-ul-Awwal 1425

DAMBULLA, July 17: Sri Lanka, having arrived from Australia 36 hours ago, secured comfortable victory over the United Arab Emirates by 116 runs here on Saturday.

Sri Lanka rested skipper Marvan Atapattu and left-arm paceman Chaminda Vaas in their tour opener but were still able to claim maximum points against the minnows.

However, Ali Asad Abbas (2-35) and Khuram Khan (4-32), their skipper, produced excellent spells as Sri Lanka posted a moderate 239 all out.

Number three Avishka Gunawardene celebrated his return to the side after a 15-month absence by top scoring with 73 from 89 deliveries.

UAE fell behind the asking rate early after seamer Nuwan Zoysa (2-11) snared two quick wickets with the new ball and were finally bowled out for 123 in 47.5 overs.

Ramveer Rai battled hard for his 39 from 124 balls before being bowled by a giant-spinning leg break from Upul Chandana that turned from outside leg to hit off stump.

Chandana finished with four for 22 to cap off a fine all-round performance that also included 21 useful runs and two catches.

Muttiah Muralitharan returned to international cricket after his self-imposed exile during Sri Lanka's tour of Australia to take three for 21 in 10 overs.

The left-handed Gunawardene, playing his first one-dayer in 18 months, steadied the Sri Lankan innings after the cheap dismissals of openers Saman Jayantha (18) and veteran Sanath Jayasuriya (21), adding 64 for the third wicket with Kumar Sangakkara (17).

Khuram, the UAE skipper, triggered a middle-order collapse when he dismissed Tillekeratne Dilshan (six) and Thilina Kandamby (four) to send the hosts reeling at 161-6. His third victim was Gunawardene, caught by Sameer Zia.

He was well-supported by fast bowler Ali Asad, who finished with 2-35 off 10 overs.

The UAE were also a bowler short for a major part of the innings as left-arm seamer Asim Saeed returned to the pavilion due to a sprained muscle after bowling just two overs.

The Sri Lankan batsmen still struggled for runs, especially against left-armer Khuram who kept a tidy line and length in his impressive spell.

Scoreboard

SRI LANKA:

W.S. Jayantha b Maqsood 18

S.T. Jayasuriya lbw b Ali Asad 21

D.A. Gunawardene c Sameer b Khuram 73

K.C. Sangakkara lbw b Sameer 17

D.P.M.D. Jayawardene run out 26

T.M. Dilshan b Khuram 6

S.H.T. Kandamby c Maqsood b Khuram 4

U.D.U. Chandana b Ali Asad 21

D.N.T. Zoysa c Sameer b Arshad 21

M. Muralitharan b Khuram 3

L.S. Malinga not out 5

EXTRAS (B-10, LB-4, W-10) 24

TOTAL (all out, 50 overs) 239

FALL OF WKTS: 1-39, 2-41, 3-105, 4-143, 5-151, 6-161, 7-190, 8-214, 9-222.

BOWLING: Ali Asad Abbas 10-0-35-2 (3w); Asim Saeed 2-0-15-0 (1w); Syed Maqsood 7-0-60-1 (4w); Sameer Zia 10-0-44-1; Mohammad Tauqir 10-1-34-0 (2w); Khuram Khan 10-0-32-4; Arshad Ali 1-0-5-1.

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES:

Ramveer Rai b Chandana 39

Arshad Ali lbw b Zoysa 7

Fahad Usman c Sangakkara b Zoysa 0

Naeemuddin Aslam c sub b Chandana 12

Syed Maqsood c Chandana b Murali 13

Khuram Khan b Malinga 8

Asghar Ali c and b Murali 0

Asim Saeed c Chandana b Murali 0

Mohammad Tauqir c Dilshan b Chandana 6

Ali Asad Abbas b Chandana 13

Sameer Zia not out 1

EXTRAS (B-3, LB-4, W-14, NB-3) 24

TOTAL (all out, 47.5 overs) 123

FALL OF WKTS: 1-14, 2-14, 3-43, 4-71, 5-91, 6-98, 7-98, 8-99, 9-113.

BOWLING: Zoysa 8-3-11-2 (2w); Malinga 10-2-39-1 (1nb, 2w); Dilshan 9-1-22-0 (1nb, 2w); Muralitharan 10-3-21-3 (3w); Chandana 9.5-2-22-4 (1nb, 1w); Jayantha 1-0-1-0.

RESULT: Sri Lanka won by 116 runs.

UMPIRES: P.D. Parker (Australia) and I.L. Howell (South Africa).

TV UMPIRE: Nadeem Ghauri (Pakistan).

MATCH REFEREE: M.J. Procter.

MAN-OF-THE-MATCH: Khuram Khan.-Agencies

Today's matches

Pakistan v Hong Kong at SSC Ground, Colombo Sri Lanka v India at Dambulla (D/N).