Taijul gets an important wicket for the hosts
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The day-1 of the first Test between Bangladesh and Sri Lanka ended as the Tigers posted 374/4 after 90 overs. It was a great day for the home side, but they lost two quick wickets in the final overs, leaving a sour taste in the mouth.
Winning the toss and batting first, a well made 52 from 53 balls from Tamim Iqbal gave Bangladesh a good start. After a while, Imrul Kayes was trapped LBW. He opted against taking a review after a few words of discussion with Mominul Haque, even though hawk-eye suggested that the ball would have missed the stumps.
Kayes left the pitch after making 40 runs. Mushfiqur Rahim came into bat next and formed a great partnership with Mominul Haque. The latter, especially, was on fire as his tempest consumed the Lankans to ashes. With a brilliant 100 at a strike-rate of over 100, Mominul Haque gave a perfect response to Hathurusingha, who had actually often overlooked the elegant left-handed batsman.
Indeed, the last time he scored a century in Tests was before Chandika Hathurusingha was appointed as the coach of the Bangladesh cricket team. Credit also has to be given to the brilliant support role that Mushfiq had played. The former Test captain played a superb innings of 92, churning out runs and giving the Sri Lankan bowlers a gruelling time on the pitch.
However, he was caught behind after a tiny outswinging ball from Suranga Lakmal. Liton Das came in next and got out in his very first ball, opting to leave a relatively straight ball that swung in a bit, losing his stumps in the process.
Mominul Haque was still going strong at 175 not-out and was accompanied by Mahmudullah Riyad on the pitch at 9.
----Day 2----
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Day 2 began with a bang for Sri Lanka as the imperial Mominul Haque got out for 176 on the 3rd over of the day. Mossadek Hossain came in to replace him and couldn't do much as he was caught on long on after playing a rash shot at 8 runs.
Miraz was the next batsman to come in. While he played some great shots, he made a very poor decision to take 3 runs and got run out in the process at 20. However, Sunzamul Islam and Mahmudullah Riyad made amends for their mistakes with a stable partnership of 58. However, right after the post-lunch session commenced, Sunzamul departed for 24.
****Sri Lanka's 1st innings****
The visitors came down quickly to bat, but were met with a blow as they lost Karunaratne in the 3rd over of their innings. Mehidy Hasan Miraz was the one who took his scalp. Kusal Mendis and Dhananjaya de Silva then held on to build a fortress on the pitch. The two batted with aggression and created pressure against the Bangladeshi bowlers.
Dhananjaya De Silva, in particular, was incredible as the storm he caused took the Bangladeshi by surprise. He completed a brilliant century as he is batting on 104, with Kusal Mendis partnering him fantastically on the other side with 83 runs to his name. The latter, however, was dropped twice in his innings, something that is really costing the Tigers now.
Stumps has been called now.
----Day 3----
The Lankans are looking pretty much settled and comfortable as they were frequently rotating the strike. Dhananjaya also overcame the landmark of 150 runs. Together Dhananjaya and Kusal made a 308-run partnership.
Bangladesh bowling line-up finally produced a breakthrough after lunch as Mustafizur Rahman dismissed Dhananjaya de Silva. He clubbed 173 runs before returning to the pavilion and went past the record of Mahela Jayawardene to become the fastest Sri Lankan batsman to reach 1000 Test runs.
Kusal Mendis built a strong partnership along with Roshen Silva, after Dhananjaya's departure. They stitched a stand of 100+ runs.
Kusal finally got out when he was just four runs away from his first ever double-ton in international cricket. Before his dismissal he made the Tigers regret his dropped chances on day-2. Taijul Islam bagged his wicket as the batsman was caught behind.
Roshen Silva and Sri Lanka skipper Dinesh Chandimal are currently on the crease looking forward to taking the lead.