Opening day saw 14 wickets fall, but thanks to centuries from Kamindu Mendis (102) and skipper Dhananjaya de Silva (102), the visitors took the lead on a day that was atypically dominated by seamers at Sylhet. After being put to bat on a grassy pitch under gloomy skies, Khaled Mahmud (3-72) sliced through the top order to leave Sri Lanka reeling at 57/5 after the first session. Sri Lanka was in serious trouble with the ball jagging around on a tough pitch.
Nevertheless, de Silva and Kamindu joined forces to form a 202-man counterattacking combo that managed just 241 deliveries. Due to the proactive approach and intent of both batsmen, Sri Lanka had a perfect post-lunch session, winning 125 runs at a scoring rate of more than 4 runs per over and losing no wickets. Following tea, both batsmen reached their respective tons, but Nahid Rana, making his debut, dismissed both in consecutive overs (3-87). Although de Silva and Kamindu’s efforts had brought Sri Lanka to a competitive first innings total of 280, Bangladesh’s bowlers made sure the tail would not wag.
Bangladesh, in response, was left battered and bruised over the ten overs they had to negotiate till stumps. The hosts were in trouble after Vishwa Fernando removed Mominul Haque’s scalp and opener Zakir Hasan, as well as captain Najmul Hossain Shanto. Even while it did became easier to bat against the older ball, seamers have always had the upper hand. Additionally, there has been a twitch in the offer. The Sylhet track should become increasingly difficult to bat as time goes on, especially given the generic character of pitches in Bangladesh.
Brief scores: Bangladesh 32/3 (Vishwa Fernando 2-9) vs. Sri Lanka 280 (Dhananjaya de Silva 102, Kamindu Mendis 102, Khaled Mahmud 3-72).
