It is not new for Bangladesh to take a tumble after looking brilliantly competitive only the other day. And the third day of the first Test at Chittagong

was no exception. The Tigers

started the day with a lot of promise, mopping up the Sri Lankan tail

quicker than anybody's expectation. But they also showed the amazing ability to collapse after an inspiring start with their batsmen barring a couple showing little or no application before being bowled out for 181, giving the Lankans a simple victory target of 163.

It was told and discussed time and again that they should be careful to deal Muttiah Muralidaran on a difficult third day pitch. Although wicket did not turn as expected, Bangladesh batting still floundered courtesy to self-inflicted pressure.

Khaled Mashud might claim that he was extremely unlucky to be declared out, but it was not the case for the others.

Murali took six wickets in the second innings to destroy Bangladesh to make his 100th Test a memorable one that saw him becoming the only bowler in the world to claim 1000 international wickets.

Mashud was his landmark victim and the spin wizard ruled out any controversy behind it.

“It could be controversial to you. But umpire has given him out, so he is out. It is very much simple,” said Murali, who took five or more wickets against Bangladesh for the fifth time.

“I am very much happy that I'm the first bowler to capture 1000 international wickets. But what is most important for me that my effort put my team in a position to win the match,” said Muralidaran.

The champion spinner still believed that the wicket was very good for batting.

“It is a slow pitch and still good for

batting. We didn't get too much assistance from the surface. But I am happy that I was able to do that on such a track,” he added.

He however did not want to blame the Bangladeshi batsmen rather he found a lot of improvement in their performance.

“They put pressure on us. Bangladesh have passed only five years at this level and they have to go a long way. But I am really impressed by the improvement of this side. The country's future is good because I saw Bangladesh Under-19 team's performance in Sri Lanka recently,” he informed.

Bangladesh coach Dav Whatmore also echoed the sentiment of Murali but he said that the performance of his boys could have been lot better.

“It could have been a lot better day for Bangladesh after a brilliant start. We wanted to score lot more runs in the second innings obviously but it did not happen. Still, I

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must say there is a lot of improvement than the previous games,” said Whatmore.

“Yes, it was a great effort to capture four wickets in the morning. Rajib (Shahadat Hossain) bowled really well that allowed the opponents to take only a lead of 19 runs but unfortunately it went in vain due to poor batting. There was problem with shot selection against a top wicket-taker,” he added.

Whatmore said that there was a realistic chance for his team to take the lead beyond 200.

“We got a lead of 163 runs but it was possible to make it 200. There are a lot of things you know changes and you require to change your plans too. You need to stay as long as possible and make some healthy partnerships that we failed to do,” said the Australian.

“I think he (Nafees Iqbal) will not be proud of such a shot,” said Whatmore while referring to Nafees Iqbal's wild shot outside the off-stump.