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Pakistan- 4, Sri Lanka - 2

Pakistan were successful in earning all four bowling bonus points on the first day while Sri Lanka got only two points from their batting.

Pakistan, who lost the toss and were sent to field first by Aravinda de Silva, had a happy opening day as they went on to bowl Sri Lanka out for 231 runs in 78 overs.

According to the Asian Test Championship rules, any team capturing nine to ten wickets in the first 100 overs of the first innings will be awarded with maximum four points as bonus.

Sri Lanka, on the other hand, had to remain satisfied with only two points from batting as they scored only 231 runs before being all out.

The rule says any team scoring 225 to 299 runs in the first 100 overs of the first innings is liable to get two points. Bonus points for batting starts from 150 runs.

Shepherd 47 n.o

David Shepherd is very happy to be appointed as one of the two 'neutral' umpires for the inaugural Asian Test Championship final alongside New Zealand's Douglas Cowie.

The portly Englishman, who also had the distinction of officiating the 1996 World Cup final between Australia and Sri Lanka at Lahore along with Steve Bucknor of West Indies, was talking to The Daily Star yesterday.

According to David, who also came to Dhaka last year for umpiring in the Wills International Cup, this was the 47th Test match he was officiating. He began his Test umpiring career with the England-Australia match at Manchester way back in the summer of 1985. Celebrated Yorkshireman Dickie Bird was the other umpire in that match, which ended in a draw.

``My first Test match and the 1996 World Cup final are the two memorable matches in my life,'' said David, who played county cricket for Gloucestershire from 1965 to 1979.

Arshad defies 'no-turn' pitch

For any bowler, a five-wicket haul is a dream. And for Pakistan off-spinner Arshad Khan, who returned with his career best bowling figures of 5/38 on the first day, it was more than a dream-come- true in his third Test appearance.

``It makes me feel good that finally I have got five wickets in an innings of a Test match. I always worked hard and today I have got the result,'' said the tall Pathan, who played for Surjo Tarun in the Dhaka league that concluded last month.

``I was quite demoralised for being left on the bench in the last two Tests against India and Sri Lanka. But now I am excited for being able to show my talent,'' said Arshad, whose previous best bowling figures were 3/73 against Australia last year.

He also revealed that he did not get any help from the pitch as the ball did not turn much.

Cat in the bag

Two Sports Reporters from ``Pakkhik Kriralok'', a leading national sports fortnightly, have been denied media accreditation by the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) to cover the final.

The same two--Nasimul Hasan Dodul and Saifur Rahman Chowdhury--were also denied accreditation to cover the Wills International Cup held in the city last October.

On inquiry yesterday, it was learnt that the two reporters have been denied by the BCB for criticising the board in an article published last year.

``I have been instructed by the board not to issue accreditation cards to these two particular reporters. We are ready to issue accreditation to anyone else from that magazine but not to these two. I don't know the reason why,'' said Jalal Younus, secretary of the BCB Media Committee (print) yesterday.

When this correspondent contacted BCB general secretary Syed Ashraful Huq later in the evening, he opted not to comment.

The incident questioned the board's attitude towards the press. Can they deny a reporter for simply criticising them? Or, is there a bigger cat in the bag?