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The sight of two spinners bowling in tandem within the first three hours of any Test match should not warm any season ticket-holder's heart. The average Dhakaite who has bought entries for all five days of the Pakistan-Sri Lanka Test match will be having a more fitful night than Aravinda De Silva.

Dhaka has not prepared a Test match wicket in the last thirty years. Granted, some assistance and advice have been forthcoming from Phil Russell, who has been the curator for this square in the past. But Russell is presently over 5,000 or more miles away, so obviously this has to have been a local effort. For the sake of the Dhaka Everyman, one only hopes that the wicket, such as it might be, does not decide to throw tantrums midway through the proceedings.

The Sri Lankans, meanwhile, have managed to dig themselves into a right royal hole. Winning the toss and opting to bat first, their innings curled up and died even before the butt end of the day was reached. When the top three of the order are back in the pavilion for less than twenty, any team worth its salt has its work cut out just to stay in the game. The Sri Lankans tried and looked like getting back in contention with Atapattu and De Silva, their two technically correct and accomplished batsmen coming into their own. Their 65 run partnership was ended just when Sri Lanka looked to have negotiated the choppy waters. It took a palpably bad decision by the umpire to pin the Sri Lankans back to the wall again. ``Neutral umpires'', whatever the term implies or means, counts for less than nothing if the man in question is not competent enough, or is just simply having a bad day at the office. In Atapattu's case it was - and I am trying hard to be charitable - purely a case of the latter. With Moin Khan straddling the on side of the stumps waiting for the take, and Atapattu attempting a sweep, the off-spinner's appeal for lbw was inexplicably upheld. Quite obviously the outcome of a fairly common umpiring ailment called itchius fingeritus, a form of malaise that affects umpires of all climes, ``neutral'' or otherwise.

From 84/4 with only the wrong end of the batting order for company, De Silva shouldered on manfully, putting together a masterful innings. For four and a half hours, he took on everything that the Pakistanis hurled at him, from speedster and spinners alike. The hundred was there for the taking. More importantly, the prospects of reaching 250-plus (since wickets were regularly disappearing from the other end) certainly looked like being on the cards.

De Silva in the end was done in by another dubious decision, again to a sweep shot. It was an uncharacteristic shot from a man who has such impeccable technique and chooses his shots with care. But that is of small comfort to him and in no way condones the decision. Clearly a case where the punishment did not fit the crime.

All said and done, barring Atapattu and De Silva, the rest of the batting order dissolved to a heady chemistry of pace, swing and spin. Wasim Akram was in his elements. Shoaib Akhtar was pace personified, while Saqlain preyed on the mind all the time. In the general turmoil Arshad (who?) Khan picked up five wickets without quite being the most lethal spinner of a cricket ball in the world. He stuck to the basics and a rudimentary knowledge of line and length, and the rest was, well, history of sorts. 5 for 30-odd by an up-and-down offie on the first afternoon of a test does really send shivers down the wrong spines.

What might be the moral of the story? It's a funny game, this. All and sundry may well wait for the morrow to see what transpires; if not with excitement, certainly with interest. Oh, for a Muralitharan to rewrite the script! But Pakistan look comfortable enough for the moment, unless of course complacency bites them around the ankles, that is.