- Bangladesh v Hong Kong
- India v UAE
- Bangladesh v Pakistan
- Sri Lanka v UAE
- Hong Kong v Pakistan
- Sri Lanka v India
Match # 1: Bangladesh v Hong Kong
This match was the 2143rd one-day international in cricket history.
This match was the 40th one-day international in the Asia Cup.
Hong Kong became the 18th team to play in one-day internationals.
Left-arm spinner Abdur Razzaq was making his one-day international debut for Bangladesh.
Rahul Sharma was making his debut for Hong Kong at 43 years 306 days. Only two players - Netherland's Nolan Clarke (47 years 240 days) and England's Norman Gifford (44 years 359 days) - have made their debut at an older age than Sharma in the entire history of the game.
Rahul also became the second oldest player to captain his side for the first time after England's Norman Gifford who was 44 years 359 days old when he led England at the Rothmans Trophy in Sharjah in 1984-85.
The 85-run partnership between Javed Omar and Habibul Bashar was the best second wicket partnership for Bangladesh. It bettered the 82-run stand between Habibul Bashar and Rajin Saleh against Pakistan in Faisalabad on 12-09-2003.
Hong Kong's 105 was the lowest total that the Bangladesh team has dismissed any opposition for.
Mohammad Rafique bowled an illegal 11th over because of a miscalculation on the part of umpires and scorers (he was eligible for bowling 10 overs only). The only other instance when a bowler bowled than his allowed quota of overs in ODIs was in the West Indies vs Pakistan match at Sharjah on 28-11-1996. This was a 45-over game with a bowler allowed a maximum of nine overs, but Courtney Walsh started his tenth over and wrapped up the Pakistan innings within four balls.
The 116-run win was Bangladesh's biggest win in one-day internationals. Their previous biggest win was by 62 runs against Pakistan at Northampton in the 1999 World Cup.
Javed Omar won his maiden man of the match award. He became the seventh Bangladeshi player to win an award on eighth occasion in ODIs. Mohammad Ashraful is the only one to win two awards.
Match # 2: India v United Arab Emirates (UAE)
This match was the 2144th one-day international in cricket history.
This match was only the second between these two sides, though the first was played more than 10 years back. Interestingly from that side only Sachin Tendulkar and Anil Kumble were playing in this match.
UAE had played their last ODI in the 1996 World Cup against the Netherlands in Lahore in which they registered their maiden win. Incidentally this match against India was their first under floodlights.
All 11 UAE players were making their ODI debut.
Abdul Rehman became the youngest player to appear in ODIs for UAE at the age of 17 years, 196 days. Azhar Saeed, who was 23 years 109 days old while making his debut against India in Sharjah on 13-04-1994, was the previous youngest. Incidentally, Naeemuddin Aslam, at the age of 22 years 46 days also bettered Azhar Saeed's record.
Sachin Tendulkar was playing his 334th ODI. With this he equalled the record for the most number of ODI appearances by an Indian player also held by Mohammad Azharuddin.
Sourav Ganguly was playing his 250th match. He became the fourth Indian after Mohammad Azharuddin (334), Sachin Tendulkar (334) and Anil Kumble (252) and 14th player in the world to do so.
Mohammad Tauqir became the second UAE player to claim a wicket in his first over when he had V V S Laxman caught and bowled off his third ball. Interestingly, the first such instance for UAE also came against India in their inaugural ODI at Sharjah on 13-04-2004 when Sultan Zarawani dismissed Sachin Tendulkar off his sixth ball.
Rahul Dravid became the second batsman to score a ODI century against UAE. The only other man to do so is Gary Kirsten, who made 188 not out at Rawalpindi in the 1996 World Cup.
Rahul Dravid's 104 is now the highest individual score at the Dambulla International Stadium. The previous highest was 93 by Australian opener Matthew Hayden vs Sri Lanka on 22-02-2004.
The wicket of Asghar Ali was 316th for Anil Kumble in ODIs. It took him ahead of Javagal Srinath who had a tally of 315 wickets from 229 appearances.
Rahul Dravid won his eighth man of the match award.
Match # 3 : Bangladesh v Pakistan
This match was the 2145th one-day international in cricket history.
Habibul Bashar was playing his 50th match. He became the fourth Bangladeshi player after Khaled Mashud (77), Khaled Mahmud (61) and Mohammad Rafique (61) and the 286th player overall to do so.
Yasir Hameed's 102 was the highest score made by a Pakistan batsman at Colombo SSC. The previous highest was 93 not out by Salim Malik vs Sri Lanka on 07-08-1994.
The man of the match award was the fifth for Yasir Hameed.
This match was the 2146th one-day international in cricket history.
Sri Lanka's Lasith Malinga and UAE's Ramveer Rai and Sameer Zia made their ODI debut.
Ramveer Rai became the sixth youngest player to appear in a one-day international at the age of 16 years, 229 days.
Ramveer Rai also became the youngest player to make an appearance for UAE beating Abdul Rehman's record made in the second match of the Asia Cup.
Arshad Ali took a wicket in his first over albeit in his second match when he had Nuwan Zoysa caught by Sameer Zia off his sixth ball.
Khuram Khan (4-32) became the second bowler from UAE after Shaukat Dukhanwala to take four wickets in a match. Dukhanwala had taken five for 29 vs Netherlands at Lahore on 01-03-1996.
Upul Chandana (4-22) returned his best figures in ODIs. His previous best was 4 for 31 vs Zimbabwe at Colombo SSC on 22-01-1998.
Chandana's figures were also the best by any bowler against UAE. He improved upon Pakistan's Wasim Akram's 3 for 19 at Sharjah on 17-04-1994.
Khuram Khan won his maiden man of the match award in his only second match.
Match # 5 : Hong Kong v Pakistan
This match was the 2147th one-day international in cricket history.
Nadeem Ahmed and Nasir Hameed made their ODI debut for Hong Kong. At 16 years, 294 days, Nadeem became the ninth youngest player to make an ODI appearance and the youngest ever for Hong Kong.
The 223 run-partnership between Shoaib Malik and Younis Khan was the highest partnership for any wicket in the Asia Cup. The pair expunged the previous record stand of 205 (also for third wicket) between Ijaz Ahmed and Moin-ul-Atiq, also for Pakistan against Bangladesh at Chittagong on 29-10-1988.
Younis Khan scored his maiden ODI century. His previous best was 90 against Zimbabwe at Harare on 01-12-2002.
Younis' maiden century came in his 99th innings (and 103rd match). Only four batsman Australia's Steve Waugh (167th), Sri Lanka's Arjuna Ranatunga (145th), New Zealand's John Wright (104th) and India's Sunil Gavaskar (101st) took more innings than Younis Khan to score their maiden century.
Shoaib Malik's 118 was his third century and also his highest score in ODIs. This bettered his previous highest of 115 against New Zealand at Lahore on 27-04-2002.
Younis Khan's 144 was the highest individual score in the Asia Cup bettering Indian captain Sourav Ganguly's 135 not out vs Bangladesh at Dhaka on 30-05-2000.
Younis Khan's 144 was the second highest score by a Pakistani batsman after Saeed Anwar's world record 194 against India at Chennai on 21-05-1997.
Pakistan's 343 for 5 was the highest total by any team in the Asia Cup. This was the third time a team was compiling a total of 300-plus. Interestingly, all these three totals have been made by Pakistan.
Shoaib Malik's, by virtue of his all round performance (118 runs and 4-19) became the first Pakistani and only the eighth player in the history of one-day internationals to score a century and take four wickets in the same match. Vivian Richards was the first player to do so. Richards, in fact, still remains the only player to score a century and claim five wickets in a match.
Malik won his sixth man of the match award in his 70th appearance.
This match was the 2148th one-day international in cricket history.
Sachin Tendulkar played in his 335th match. He thus became India's most ODI capped player beating Mohammad Azharuddin's record of 334 ODIs.
Sri Lanka's total of 282-4 was the highest total at Dambulla. The previous highest total was 262-6 by Australia vs Sri Lanka on 20-02-2004
The match aggregate of 552 runs was the highest at Dambulla. The previous highest aggregate was 489 runs in the Sri Lanka vs Australia game on 22-02-2004.
The fifth wicket partnership of 133 runs between Rahul Dravid and Yuvraj Singh was the best partnership at the Dambulla International stadium. The previous highest was a paltry 70-run stand between Marvan Atapattu and Russel Arnold vs England on 23-03-2001.
Dravid and Yuvraj became the fourth pair to aggregate 1,000 runs for the fifth wicket. At the end of this match, the pair have put on 1,027 runs for the fifth wicket at an average of 54.05 with 3 century and 5 half-century partnerships. Now only Australia's Steve Waugh and Michael Bevan (1372 runs at 49.00), South Africa's Hansie Cronje and Jonty Rhodes (1150 at 41.07) and Sri Lanka's Arjuna Ranatunga and Hashan Tillakaratne (1083 at 41.65) have aggregated more runs than this Indian pair.
This was the seventh time Dravid was involved in a century stand for the fifth wicket. The break-up: thrice with Yuvraj, once each with Nikhil Chopra, Virender Sehwag, V V S Laxman and Mohammad Kaif. Dravid thus moved ahead of South Africa's Jonty Rhodes and Pakistan's Inzamam-ul-Haq who each has participated in six century partnerships for the fifth wicket in ODIs. Now only one batsman Australia's Michael Bevan with 11 century-partnerships for the fifth wicket is ahead of Dravid.
The wicket of Dravid was the 157th for Mutthiah Muralitharan in his 100th day-night match. He thus became the leading wicket taker in day-night matches moving ahead of Shane Warne, who has a career tally of 156 wickets from 104 matches.
Indian bowlers sent down as many as 21 wides. This equalled their second worst performance in ODIs. They had also conceded 21 wides vs Pakistan at Toronto on 13-09-1997, vs Bangladesh at the Wankhede stadium in Mumbai on 25-05-1998 and vs Zimbabwe at Leicester on 19-05-1999. However, their worst ever performance came against Kenya at Bristol on 23-05-1999 when they sent down as many as 31 wides.
Nuwan Zoysa won his third man of the match award.
More from rediff