Watch cricket video highlights between Bangladesh vs Sri Lanak first day of second test, played at Chattogram.
After the first day of play in the second Test at Chattogram, Sri Lanka used what was probably the finest batting conditions to post 314 for 4 on a dry track that was beginning to turn.
At stumps, Dinesh Chandimal and Dhananjaya de Silva were at the crease with 34 and 15, respectively, but their top three of Nishan Madushka, Dimuth Karunaratne, and Kusal Mendis—the latter two of whom were just short of reaching their respective hundreds—accounted for the majority of the runs.
However, debutant seamer Hasan Mahmud impressed the most, finishing the day with figures of 2 for 64, on a day when the bowlers were made to work hard and where, aside from brief spells with the first and second new balls, the spinners appeared most likely to extract something from the surface. Upon his comeback to the Test team, Shakib Al Hasan also had one.
By the conclusion of the game, Bangladesh was looking for more breakthroughs to try and cut into Sri Lanka’s long tail; nevertheless, Sri Lanka will be happy with their current situation because the surface is expected to continue to deteriorate.
That being said, the hosts may have even prevailed on this day if Bangladesh had managed to hang onto all of their opportunities.
Mahmudul Hasan Joy missed an easy opportunity to slip off Madushka during the morning session, while Shakib misjudged a mishandled Karunaratne hook at fine leg to give both openers a respite. Additionally, a straight hit opportunity that would have put Karunaratne well short was missed in the meantime.
The seamers were the biggest threat at this time, with Mahmud in particular demonstrating excellent control over the new ball and consistently hitting mid-130s. His first Test wicket would not come until Sri Lanka was 210 runs ahead, but if Mahmudul had hung on, it would have come far sooner.
However, as the ball became older and the seamers’ effectiveness decreased, hitting got easier. However, because of the surface’s occasionally uneven bounce, Lankan hitters had to wait for the poor balls to go away. A wicket-free morning session demonstrated the favorable batting conditions, with scores of three runs an over.
And as the day went on, things would improve, especially for the spinners, although a lot of Bangladesh’s early success was due to batsman mistakes.
In the first, Madushka was discovered far short after a solid toss from the deep by Karunaratne, who appeared to summon his partner through briefly before turning him back. With a wayward drive that caused the former captain to lag on to his stumps, Mahmud took his first Test wicket.
Notwithstanding these successes, Bangladesh was seldom let to get a head of steam, as a series of subsequent partnerships became the spine of Sri Lanka’s batting campaign. There was an opening stand of 96 and then stands of 114 and 53.
The ball didn’t start to exhibit natural variety for the spinners until the last session.
Kusal would not have such luck after Mathews had pressed forward and edged an arm ball from Mehidy Hasan Miraz that eluded both the goalie and slip. Pushing ahead to a grip that ricocheted off Shakib, Kusal was taken aback when it snagged a sharp edge and soared low to Mehidy’s right at slip, where he correctly used both hands.
There were a few more deliveries in the vicinity of that time that made the hitters doubt themselves and beat the bat with both hands. However, Hasan’s final breakthrough of the day came from the new ball, when one rose quickly to steal Mathews’ edge.
However, the Lankan hitters demonstrated patience in navigating any fluctuation and punished the faulty balls, just as they had done all day. They will know that one more sizable alliance might be necessary to seize control of the game, given how unstable the surface has proven to be even at this early stage.
