'Murali' did not take long to get into the swing of things when introduced in the 18th over and he had Rajin Saleh trapped in front with just his fifth delivery before dismissing Al Hasan, top scorer with 16, in similar fashion to leave the leave the tourists in trouble at 61 for six.

He then claimed his 58th five-wicket haul in Test cricket with three quick dismissals after the lunch interval to finish with figures of 5-15 off 7.3 overs.

Dilhara Fernando claimed three wickets, while Chaminda Vaas and Lasith Malinga chipped in with a wicket apiece as Bangladesh were all out in 32.3 overs.

Bangladesh were given some hope at the start of the Sri Lankan reply, with debutant Malinda Warnapura out lbw to the first ball of the innings and Kumar Sangakkara edging behind to reduce the hosts to 14-2.

However, a partnership of 173 between Michael Vandoort (87 not out) and Mahela Jayawardene (retired hurt on 93) put the home side in control.

Chamara Silva did not last long but Tillakatne Dilshan crashed a quick-fire 27 to steer the side to 227-3 at the close - a lead of 138.

Punters appear to believe that this contest is all over bar the shouting with Sri Lanka overwhelming 1.04 favourites to complete the formalities.

Those expecting some sort of miracle for the tourists can still get 60, while a draw is available at 21.

It has not been the best of starts for Mohammad Ashraful to his reign as captain and he will certainly expect an improved showing throughout the rest of the three-match series, although series-winner market has yet to develop.

Bangladesh's best chance for glory is likely to come when the three-match one-day international series gets underway on July 20, a market for which will open up nearer the time.

Upul Tharanga is missing through injury and has been replaced in the side by Michael Vandort for the clash in Colombo - which begins on Monday.

Tharanga suffered a hairline fracture in his foot during a net session, after being struck by a delivery from paceman Lasith Malinga.

Captain Mahela Jayawardene admitted that the Sri Lankans are 'hopeful' that the 22-year-old will be available for next month's second Test.
Vandort is a more than adequate replacement though, having played six Tests, and has two centuries to his name.
The left-hander could open with newcomer Malinda Warnapura, who is in line for his debut in the absence of veteran stars Sanath Jayasuriya and Marvan Atapattu.
The home side are the 1.33 favourites to win the opening Test of the three-match series, with Bangladesh trading at 11 and the draw can be backed at 3.

The 41-year-old turned down the offer of a new contract with the World Cup runners-up to take up a coaching position with Western Australia on a three-year deal.

The former World Cup winner said: "It was a very difficult decision to make given the strong relationship that has been built between Sri Lanka Cricket and myself.

"But at this stage in my life it was important that I made a bigger commitment to my family."

He added: "However, I will be more than happy to assist in whichever way I possibly can for the continuous success of Sri Lanka Cricket."

Moody will take up his new role on 1 July and Sri Lanka Cricket said in a statement: "SLC regrets that Tom Moody has to leave our services and respects his decision.

"SLC is grateful to Tom for his valuable contributions to the success of the national and SLC during his tenure. We wish him all the success in his future endeavours."

News of Moody's resignation is likely to have an impact when trading gets underway for Sri Lanka's One-Day Series against Pakistan, which starts in Abu Dhabi on May 18.

The two nations meet again just two days later before clashing for the final time on May 22.

The big-hitting Kiwi missed Friday's record 215-run defeat at the hands of Australia because of a long-standing heel problem but he has insisted he will be available to face Sri Lanka in Jamaica.

Oram said: "It'll be fine, or at least that's the plan anyway. It was purely a precautionary exercise.

"If it had been the semi-final I would have pushed it, but Sri Lanka's the bigger fixture and it's important that I'm right for that."

Oram also moved to dismiss Ricky Ponting's claims that the Black Caps' confidence would have been knocked by their humbling at the hands of the old enemy and insists the result has been consigned to history.

"It hasn't dented our confidence as much as some people would think," he said.

"We know Tuesday will be so much more important and that's purely where our focus is now; we've almost forgotten about it.

"We weren't happy with the loss and we definitely wanted to win - but if we get up against Sri Lanka and make the final it's a whole new ball game."

Although New Zealand should welcome back both Oram and strike bowler Shane Bond, who also missed the Australia defeat, Sri Lanka are favourites at 1.74 to win on Tuesday, with the Black Caps available at 2.34.

New Zealand are also the outsiders at 6.6 in the outright winner market, behind Australia at 2, Sri Lanka at 5.3 and South Africa at 5.9.

The paceman has missed his country's last three Super 8 games, against New Zealand, Australia and Ireland, because of an ankle injury.

But Malinga, who has taken 15 wickets in the tournament, should be available for Sri Lanka when the tournament reaches the last-four stage.

Jayawardene revealed that Malinga was close to featuring on Wednesday against Ireland, but had been rested as a continued precaution.

The skipper said: "He's probably 90 percent okay, we probably should have played him today but we didn't want to take the risk.
"We don't want to take too many risks. He should be ready to go in the semi-finals, definitely."

Sri Lanka officials are not as confident over the fitness of Dilhara Fernando, who has also been struggling with an ankle problem.
Jayawardene added: "Dilhara played against Australia with an ankle problem. He had two injections in it and he needs to prove his fitness before the semi-finals."

The injury updates will certainly offer greater hope for those punters who have backed Sri Lanka for success in the Caribbean. The 1996 winners are trading at 1.89 to reach the final and can be backed at 5.1 to lift the trophy.
Meanwhile, Malinga is now trading at 24 to finish the tournament as the top wicket taker - a market headed by Glenn McGrath (2.06).

The 23-year-old slinger missed training on Tuesday and, although Sri Lanka originally thought the problem was not too serious, tests have revealed that he has suffered a grade two tear in his left ankle and will require 7-14 days rest.

Malinga's absence will not only be a blow to Sri Lanka but also to those punters who have backed him to finish as the World Cup's top wicket-taker. He currently leads the charts, along with Australia's Glenn McGrath, after taking 15 wickets in six games but now looks set to miss the next three matches.

Malinga has definitely been ruled of the clash with the Black Caps on Thursday and is almost certain to sit out the game with McGrath's Australia on Monday. It also remains touch and go as to whether he will be back for Sri Lanka's final Super 8 clash with minnows Ireland next Wednesday.

Having been matched previously at a low of 2.62, the Sri Lanka paceman has drifted out to 7.6, with McGrath now a clear favourite at 3.74 ahead of Malinga's team-mate Muttiah Muralitharan, who has 12 victims so far, at 5.

Either Farveez Maharoof or Nuwan Kulasekara is set to come into the team but Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene is confident they will not let the side down and is not unduly worried by the threat that the unbeaten Kiwis pose.

"We've got experienced players who can come in and we are confident they can do a job for us," Mahela Jayawardene told AFP. "It depends on how much of a gamble we want to take at this stage.

"They (New Zealand) are playing some really good cricket but they haven't played one of the top teams yet.

"They've got a very good all-round side and bat until deep. We've played them a lot in the last 12 months and we know their strengths and weaknesses."

There is nothing to separate the two sides, who drew 2-2 in a one-day international series in New Zealand in December, in the match odds market with both last matched at 2.

Two teams with a foot in the semi-finals of the 2007 Cricket World Cup will meet at the National Cricket Stadium in Grenada, with the prize on offer for both New Zealand and Sri Lanka an early case of bragging rights for the rest of the tournament.

New Zealand and Sri Lanka have been two of the most impressive sides on show in the Caribbean, with the Kiwis still unbeaten after overcoming the odd scare against plucky Ireland on Easter Monday and Sri Lanka's sole loss having come by just one wicket against the world's leading one-day side South Africa.

So this game shapes us as one of the classic encounters of the event so far, much like England's game with Sri Lanka turned out, although Michael Vaughan's side more than once let their opponents off the hook, something that could come back to haunt them at the end of the Super 8 phase on April 21.

It seems that Betfair punters have been equally impressed with both sides, although Sri Lanka are slightly favoured at 5.4 to New Zealand on 5.6 in the outright market - New Zealand on the other hand are 1.03 to make the semi-finals and Sri Lanka on 1.06, although it would take a strange sequence of results to see either miss out, the same applying to double reigning champions Australia.

And you would have every reason to be impressed by both of these sides, which should make this match very evenly-contested and interesting for the future of the tournament, as there is every chance that they will meet again later in the tournament - should they finish in second and third place, as seems fairly likely, they would play again in the semi-finals.

It has been fairly clear since the tournament started that both teams are well-rounded and have no obvious weakness, and the closeness of the duo is borne out in no uncertain terms in the match odds market, where New Zealand are shading favouritism at 1.96 to Sri Lanka's 1.98.

The Kiwis have won all six of their games so far, and most of them in very impressive fashion, thanks to a mixture of some massive innings and restricting opponents to manageable totals when they have been asked to chase a target, but there is a chance that some people are over-estimating the performances based on the results rather than the opposition.

New Zealand now go into their final three games on top of the Super 8 table courtesy of their superior net run rate, but it is clearly worth looking ahead before anointing them as certain semi-finalists, considering their final three games come against the other three sides that currently occupy the top four spots alongside them; Sri Lanka in this game followed by South Africa and finally Australia - a tough game indeed if they do need points from the final game.

The big unknown factor in the game is the pitch, as this will be the second game Grenada has hosted in the tournament. The first game takes place on Tuesday so it will be well worth a look at the way the South Africa v West Indies clash was played out. Expectations are that pace will be less effective with a slow and low bounce more likely and conditions potentially aiding swing bowling, which both sides possess.

But it is also distinctly possible that the pitch will turn and bring the likes of Muttiah Muralitharan and Daniel Vettori into play in the leading wicket-taker markets. The last major game played at the venue, and even that was before a total redevelopment over the last three years, came in 2004 and the leading wicket-taker in all games there was Chris Gayle, a slow right-arm spinner.

Vettori came to the fore in the win over Ireland on Monday, when he took 4-23 to ensure that any chance of them reaching a testing 264-run target was extinguished nice and early. He now has 12 wickets in the tournament and seems to be peaking at just the right time, joining an attack full of options.

The Kiwis have five bowlers averaging less than 21 runs per wicket (Vettori is actually worst of them at 20.91) and they have a lovely mixture of styles, right the way up from the bespectacled left-arm spinner to Shane Bond, on his day now the fastest bowler in world cricket. Bond has taken 10 wickets in his five games at an amazing average of only 10.20 and his economy rate of 2.44 runs per over is best in the tournament by a long way.

Add to the mix the medium pace (so well served so far in the event) of Jacob Oram and Scott Styris, plus Jeetan Patel if they use a second spinner, and you can see why so many people have taken them as their bet to lift the trophy.

Styris and Oram are also key members of a batting line-up that has twice passed the 300-mark, as well as chasing down two mediocre targets in double quick time. Although Styris has not scored as many runs as captain Stephen Fleming so far, he has played the more important innings, especially in the opening win over England that kick-started their tournament in such fine style.

But they did show signs against Ireland that they could be vulnerable, with only Brendon McCullum and James Franklin rescuing them from a nasty position at 189-7 when Ireland were well in the game.

Sri Lanka are just the sort of side that could take advantage of such weakness, although they themselves would have to show a bit more consistency than they did against England, when they were rescued by their bowlers and almost came a cropper to a fine stand by Paul Nixon and Ravi Bopara for the eighth wicket.

They have also been extremely strong with the ball in hand, and adding in their quartet of in-form bowlers, there has to be a decent chance of a low-scoring game - worth looking at quotes in the total runs market especially if Tuesday's game makes it obvious that runs are going to be hard to come by in Grenada.

Lasith Malinga has been the undoubted star for Sri Lanka so far and he remains 3.25 favourite in the top wicket-taker market despite Glenn McGrath (3.65) closing in on him and equalling his 15 wicket-haul with three in each of his last three games. Vettori is also as low as 14.5 after his four wickets on Monday.

Muralitharan, Chaminda Vaas, Farveez Maharoof and Dilhara Fernando (one from the latter two should figure) have also impressed in spells and most of them have the skills either to be able to extract some reverse swing, or in Murali's case vicious spin, out of any pitch.

The game could well come down to which line-up best cope with conditions and Sri Lanka can certainly have one of the most feared top orders in the game, where veteran opener Sanath Jayasuriya continues to impress. He has scored over 300 runs in the tournament already, and with six other Sri Lankans having scored a century already, they have plenty of options in case he and Kumar Sangakkara fail to trouble the scorers.

The 1996 winners are many people's dark horses to go all the way in this year's World Cup and they cruised through their three group games, taking two points into the Super 8 phase of the tournament.

However they stumbled against South Africa in their opening Super 8 encounter and lost by one wicket, despite Lasith Malinga's last-gasp heroics with the ball, when he took four wickets in four balls.

Sanath Jayasuriya was the star of the show for the Asian outfit against the hosts at the weekend, hammering 115 from just 101 deliveries, and Sangakkara revealed that the Sri Lankan players decided to knuckle down and concentrate on fulfilling their potential after the heart-breaking Proteas defeat.

"From the game against South Africa, the guys have now realised that complacency and cruising is not the order of the day," he said. "It was a great show of character to come back from that loss and win."

And the controversial 'keeper was pleased to have put in a good performance behind the sticks after failing to contribute with the bat.

"I did not get many runs and I pride myself on that ability also so I was glad to have a good day behind the stumps," he added.

"I pulled up my socks and made a proper contribution - I haven't done that much in the last three games."

Mahela Jayawardene's men face England in their next match on Wednesday and are the 1.51 favourites to beat Michael Vaughan's men, who can be backed at 2.94.

They are trading at 1.18 to reach the semi-finals in the Caribbean and 6.2 to win the tournament outright, while England are on offer at 3.25 to reach the last four and 17.5 to win their first ever World Cup.

Chasing 210 to win, the Proteas looked to be cruising to victory when reaching 206-5 before Malinga struck.

The Sri Lankan seamer had the Proteas in trouble, claiming the scalps of Shaun Pollock, Andrew Hall, Jacques Kallis and Makhaya Ntini in four consecutive balls.

Robin Peterson though managed to edge a four to claim victory and leave Malinga insisting that the record counted for little.
The 23-year-old said: "I am happy to take those wickets but we have lost.

"I felt good, mixed my deliveries up well, and I thought we might pinch it. But 209 was not enough to defend."
Malinga is now the 5.8 favourite to finish the World Cup as the top wicket taker, with his fellow Sri Lankan Muttiah Muralitharan and Australia's Brad Hogg both available at 6.