CHATTOGRAM, Bangladesh (AP) — Sri Lanka dominated the opening day of the second and final cricket test against Bangladesh, riding on strong contributions from its top three batters.
No. 3 Kusal Mendis struck 93, Dimuth Karunaratne hit 86 and his fellow opener Nishan Madushka added 57 as Sri Lanka reached 314-4 in 90 overs at stumps on Saturday.
Star all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan, whose last international match was at the 2023 World Cup in India, returned figures of 1-60 in 18 overs.
Dinesh Chandimal (34 not out) and captain Dhananjaya de Silva (15 not out) will resume Sunday. De Silva hit centuries in both innings of the first test, which Sri Lanka won by 328 runs.
Fast bowler Hasan Mahmud claimed 2-64 on his test debut.
“300-plus for four on Day 1 is a good score,” Karunaratne said. “There’s turn and seam movement with the new ball … There’s a result on this wicket.”
After winning the toss and opting to bat first, the tourists made a fluent start but Bangladesh wasted chances.
Madushka was dropped on 9 when Mahmudul Hasan put down a straightforward chance off Mahmud at second slip. Karunaratne was also lucky to survive when he top-edged Mahmud’s delivery but Shakib fumbled the ball over the boundary line to give the batter a six.
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“We created chances in the morning, but didn’t capitalize on those. Similar story in the first test where we took five wickets in the first session,” Bangladesh bowling coach Andre Adams said. “Dropping catches will continue to cost us if we keep doing it … For us to compete and be excellent, we need to be excellent for longer.”
Madushka reached his second test fifty off 80 balls, when he punched offspinner Mehidy Hasan to mid-off for a single.
But just after his half-century, he was run out after sharing a 96-run opening stand with Karunaratne.
Karunaratne raised his 37th test half-century off 93 balls. He and Kusal further frustrated Bangladesh’s bowlers, sharing 114 for the second wicket.
Mahmud finally got the better of Karunaratne for his first test wicket when the batter dragged a length delivery back on to his stumps.
Mendis, who brought up his 18th test fifty off 87 balls, appeared to be heading toward his 10th century. However, after sharing 53 runs with Angelo Mathews, Mendis was baffled by the turn that Shakib extracted from the pitch. He hit 11 fours and one six in his innings.
Mahmud dismissed Mathews for 23, when he got the outside edge of the bat.
De Silva and Chandimal then steered the side past 300.
Sri Lanka made one change from the first test with Asitha Fernando replacing the injured Kasun Rajitha, who took eight wickets overall in the opener.
Shakib and Mahmud — who played 39 white-ball matches for Bangladesh before making his test debut here — replaced fast bowlers Nahid Rana and Shoriful Islam for the hosts.
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