Galle (Sri Lanka), June 18: Mushfiqur Rahim was unbeaten on 141 and shared a 74-run partnership with Litton Das to help lift Bangladesh to 383 for four at lunch on Day 2 of the series-opening cricket test against Sri Lanka.
The visitors added 91 runs in the morning session Wednesday for the loss of skipper, Najmul Hossain Shanto, who’d led the charge with a sublime 148.
Shanto and Mushfiqur combined for a 264-run stand for the fourth wicket, falling just three runs short of breaking Bangladesh’s all-time fourth-wicket record in tests.
It took a moment of brilliance to break the partnership. Shanto, looking to go aerial, was early into his stroke and was out when Angelo Mathews flung himself full length at mid-off to make a diving catch. Shanto’s innings was full of patience and placement, laced with 15 boundaries and a towering six.
With the scoreboard ticking and Sri Lanka desperate for inroads, wicketkeeper-batter Das picked up right where Shanto left off with a rapid, unbeaten 43 to help consolidate Bangladesh’s strong position.
Sri Lanka missed some crucial chances against Das. He called for a risky single after Mushfiqur nudged into the covers but the response was sluggish. Dhananjaya de Silva sprinted from slip, gathered the ball cleanly, but fired to the wrong end with both batters at the striker’s end.
Pathum Nissanka dropped a routine chance at short mid-wicket with Das on 14, and the Bangladesh batter responded by hitting three consecutive boundaries.
The match at Galle is the first in the 2025-2027 cycle of the World Test Championship, starting just days after South Africa won the title for the first time with a victory over defending champion Australia at Lord’s on the weekend. (AP)
