BANGLADESH IN SRI LANKA, 2025
Najmul and Mushfiqur both cracked unbeaten tons © AFP
An unbeaten 247-run stand for the fourth wicket between Najmul Hossain Shanto (136*) and veteran Mushfiqur Rahum (105*) ensured Bangladesh took early honours on Day 1 against Sri Lanka in Galle. After a jittery start in the first hour of play, the right-left combination took Bangladesh from 45 for 3 to 292 for 3 at Stumps.
In Angelo Matthews’ final Test, Shanto had no hesitation in electing to bat first and Shadman Islam began proceedings with an stylish flick on the onside. But his opening partner Anamul Haque couldn’t get his innings going and fell for a 10-ball duck, poking one behind to the ‘keeper. The hosts switched to spin as early as the eighth over, bringing on Tharindu Rathnayake into the attack. Mominul Haque brought out the sweep to good effect with two boundaries against the offspinner. But Tharindu got Mominul to nick one to slip but was grassed by Dhananjaya de Silva.
Tharindu finally got his maiden Test wicket few overs later as Shadman nicked to de Silva at slip, as the Sri Lankan skipper held on. De Silva then atoned for his drop of Mominul as Rathanyake picked up his second wicket in no time.
Under pressure, Shanto and Rahim made company as early as the 17th over. Unlike the Bangladesh top-three, Shanto was excellent with his feet against the spinners. He danced down the pitch on multiple occasions and played some breathtaking shots down the ground and inside-out over extra cover. At the other end, Rahim needled his way around with deft touches against the spin of Tharindu and Prabath Jayasuriya.
The visitors continued to be positive after the Lunch break with Rahim picking up length beautifully, and scoring two boundaries off Asitha Fernando. The move to bring back pace didn’t work as Fernando leaked boundaries against Shanto as well before the hosts turned to Milan Rathnayake instead. Shanto and Rahim brought up their 50s off back-to-back deliveries, as the pair simultaneously raised the 100-run stand. Rahim brought out the slog-sweep against Jayasuirya while Shanto continued to successfully come down the track against Tharindu. The visitors had a tremendous second session scoring 92 runs without losing a wicket.
Shanto played an uppish cut which went past slip and raced to the boundary, and followed it up with an exquisite pull off Fernando as Bangladesh moved past the 200-run mark. Tharindu came back to bowl left-arm spin to Rahim but the veteran remained unmoved. The hosts then turned to bowling outside leg, asking Shanto to sweep behind fine-leg. Despite the batter’s moderate success, it proved to be successful as the Bangladesh captain brought up his sixth Test century. Shanto raced through the gears and scored three boundaries in no time before Rahim joined his captain at the milestone mark with his 12th Test ton close to Stumps.
Sri Lanka opted to use only five bowlers interestingly and it was a difficult day for Jayasuriya and Tharindu who bowled 61 overs between them but had only two wickets to show for their vigil.
Brief Scores: Bangladesh 292/3 (Najmul Hossain Shanto 136*, Mushfiqur Rahim 105*; Tharindu Rathanyake 2-124, Asitha Fernando 1-51) vs Sri Lanka
© Cricbuzz
