Watch cricket video highlights between Bangladesh vs Sri Lanka second day of second test, played at Chattogram.
A formidable first-inning total of 531 was amassed by Sri Lanka as they batted out almost the whole of the second day in Chattogram, with to the contributions of Dinesh Chandimal, Dhananjaya de Silva, and Kamindu Mendis, who joined the trio of half-centurions from the first Test.
In the process, they also achieved a record that surpassed India’s 1976 performance of 524 for 9 declared against New Zealand, becoming the greatest total in a Test innings without a single century. At 92 not out, Kamindu Mendis tied Javed Miandad for the most runs in a career’s first four innings with 419.
Bangladesh, who were required to bat for somewhat more than an hour prior to stumps, mostly handled it pretty well as openers Mahmudul Hasan Joy and Zakir Hasan scored freely. If Lahiru Kumara hadn’t struck back swiftly from outside off to scythe through Joy and clip the bails, they too would have lost wicket.
Bangladesh finished the day at 55 for 1 in 15 overs thanks to the heroics of Zakir Hasan and nightwatcher Taijul Islam, who kept things from becoming worse.
However, the Sri Lankan hitters were the day’s big story. An hour into the last session, Bangladesh needed 159 overs to bowl out the visitors. Along with two for debutant Hasan Mahmud and one each for Khaled Ahmed and Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Shakib Al Hasan finished with statistics of 3 for 110.
All in all, though, the hosts had a difficult day on the field, especially because their wastefulness on the field was evident once again. They gave up two more catches, bringing their innings total to five, and the latest to benefit were Prabath Jayasuriya and Kamindu.
When Khaled flashed a wide one, Jayasuriya, who was on 6 at the time, earned a substantial advantage. First slip caught it and juggled it towards second slip, who then threw it to third slip, who likewise leaped forward and could not hold it. That series encapsulated Bangladesh’s experience in the field.
The fact that it occurred after lunch, Bangladesh’s most dangerous time of day, is another proof of how such mistakes worked to smother any momentum that could have been developing. In this case, another wicket may have put them on their approach to cheaply bundling out Sri Lanka’s tail as Khaled had just caught Dhananjaya de Silva lbw.
However, Jayasuriya would remain for a further 66 deliveries, making 28 in a 65-run partnership with Kamindu. Later on, at number sixty, Mahmud, a sprinter, dropped Kamindu himself on the square-leg boundary. After the break, he added another 32 points.
Alongside the final four hitters, Kamindu contributed a total of 120 runs, most of which might have been avoided had Bangladesh kept onto their catches.
Chandimal and Dhananjaya had earlier in the day methodically navigated the opening hour of play, waiting for the loose deliveries. Although the Bangladeshi seamers did explore some nice areas, boundary balls were also common, which relieved some of the load.
The Bangladeshi bowlers strayed from designated lines and lengths for the whole of the day. And even when they did, all it took for their preparations to be derailed was one aggressive blow from the Sri Lankan batsmen.
Even in instances where a strategy was effective, like when Khaled and Mahmud were hitting the batters with a flurry of bouncers, the hot and muggy weather combined with the absence of a third seamer prevented the strategy from being maintained for an extended period of time.
Even in situations when it would have been wise to increase the pace of scoring, Sri Lanka never put too much pressure on themselves to do so and were content to bat out time till their bowlers could utilize the new ball as play came to an end. The ground was still giving off irregular bounce with the occasional one gripping and turning. A strategy that, in the end, seems to have been warranted by Kumara’s tardy discovery.
