Vaas shows his uncelebrated class

As Percy Abeysekera, Sri Lanka's colourful flag bearer, would say: "Vaas, you're class!"

Chaminda Vaas, still just 29, has held together Sri Lanka's fast bowling for the last decade.

Murali might grab the lion's share of the limelight but Vaas is an equally important cog in the Sri Lanka attack.

Indeed, Murali would surely not have claimed as many as 309 one-day victims had it not been for the probing accuracy and skill of Sri Lanka's finest new ball bowler.

Vaas's job is to nip out a top order wicket or two and then build up the pressure, forcing the opposition to take liberties against the Sri Lanka spin king.

The vastly experienced pair, who have taken 570 one-day wickets between them, feed of each other and when both are on song Sri Lanka become a formidable outfit.

Yesterday, against a hapless Bangladesh side so well groomed in the art of losing, Vaas enjoyed a well-deserved day in the sunshine.

If any bowler in international cricket was to claim a hat-trick with the first three deliveries of the match then it was Vaas.

Whilst some pace bowlers settle for a loosener, Vaas always strives for a wicket first ball, hoping to strike before the opening batsman has had a chance to settle.

Hannan Sarkar was a case in point: his ugly smear across the line of a well-pitched inswinger smacked of nerves.

Second ball and Vaas was already experimenting. Teenage prodigy Mohammad Ashraful looked balefully at the pitch after being caught and bowled but he would have been better served to watch Vaas's broken wrist at the point of delivery.

Vaas admitted afterwards that the fall of the third wicket did not run according to the script - he was trying another indipper - but for a hat-trick ball it was bang on target.

Having won an lbw appeal three balls later to leave Bangladesh 5/4, Vaas had claimed victory for his side in the space of six deliveries.

He also claimed another world record, becoming the first bowler in one-day cricket to claim a hat-trick of the first three balls of a game.

He was third bowler after Indian seamer Chetan Sharma (Nagpur, 1987) and Pakistan spinner Saqlain Mushtaq (Oval, 1999) to claim a World Cup hat-trick.

Afterwards, he was typically unassuming: "I had been bowling well in the past couple of months and I am very happy the way I bowled today. I was not going for any records or anything but my job was to take wickets which I did to help my country win. I am happy to have played a part."

He rated his world record eight for 19 against Zimbabwe in Colombo, when he also claimed a hat-trick, as a better performance.

His exploits helped fuel the growing feeling of well-being within the Sri Lanka camp as they prepare for tougher battles ahead.

Key players - Sanath Jayasuriya, Marvan Atapattu, Murali and Vaas - are peaking at just the right time and the mood is buoyant.