Starting the day on 512/3, Sri Lanka went on rack up a total of 648 runs in the first innings and gave themselves two sessions to have a crack at the Bangladesh batters. Tamim Iqbal blazed his way to an unbeaten 74 before the rain came down and washed out the final session as the game finished in a draw.
The batsmen made merry and dominated proceedings throughout the first Test match as the game ended in a high-scoring draw. One team got 500+ while the other got 600+, and the bowlers toiled hard on each of the five days of this Test match as the first Test saw a total of 1289 runs and a mere 17 wickets.
Sri Lanka resumed day five in a commanding position and had lost just three wickets in the span of five and a half sessions. On day four, they did not lose a single wicket as Dimuth Karunaratne and Dhananjaya de Silva piled on the runs. Both batters briskly started the day as Sri Lanka got one boundary in each of the first three overs of the day.
However, Taskin Ahmed finally got a breakthrough for Bangladesh as de Silva chopped one back onto his stumps in the fifth over the day. It was a wicket for Bangladesh after a staggering 91.1 overs and 345-run stand came to an end.
Taskin dismissed the double centurion and Sri Lanka skipper in his very next over, as Karunaratne couldn’t control his pull shot and holed out. Pathum Nissanka didn’t last long either as Ebadot Hossain had him caught-behind.
But the hosts recovered well after those three wickets as Niroshan Dickwella, Wanindu Hasaranga and Suranga Lakmal chipped in with quickfire cameos. They hit 31, 43 and 23, not out respectively, to take Sri Lanka 648/8 at the end of the first session. They declared at lunch and took a lead of 107, giving themselves two sessions to have a crack at Bangladesh and possibly bowl them out.
Bangladesh started off in brisk fashion courtesy of Tamim Iqbal. The veteran left-handed opener blazed his way to 20 off 17 balls in the first four overs. However, Lakmal gave Sri Lanka some hope as he picked up two wickets in back to back overs as he reduced Bangladesh to 27/2.
The ace Sri Lankan pacer had Saif Hassan nicking one to the keeper before the first innings centurion Najmul Hossain Shanto dragged one back onto his stumps.
However, Tamim Iqbal combined with skipper Mominul Haque to steady the ship. The duo shut shop and just weathered the storm eight runs in their first 8.3 overs that they batted together.
Once the early spells were seen off Tamim, cut loose and blazed his way to a 56-ball half-century. It was his second of the Test match and 30th overall. Mominul continued batting his dead batting his way and was on 1 when Tamim brought up his half-century. The duo ensured Bangladesh did not lose any more wickets as they took the visitors safely to Tea at 100/2 with Tamim on unbeaten on 74.
During the Tea interval, the rain came down heavily and continued to pour for an hour before the umpires called off the day and, eventually, the game.
Brief Scores
Bangladesh 541/7 decl (Shanto 163, Mominul 127, Tamim 90, Rahim 68*, Fernando 4/96) & 100/2 (Tamim 74*, Mominul 24*, Lakmal 2/21) drew with Sri Lanka 648/8 (Karunaratne 244, de Silva 166, Thirimanne 58, Taskin 3/112, Islam 2/164)
