Sri Lanka post 531 against BD

CHATTOGRAM: Sri Lanka batted out nearly the entirety of the second day in Chattogram to rack up an imposing first-innings total of 531, and put themselves in a commanding position in the second Test.

In the process, they also posted the highest total in a Test innings without a single century, surpassing India’s effort of 524 for 9 declared against New Zealand in 1976. Kamindu Mendis, who was unbeaten on 92, also equalled Javed Miandad for the most runs in the first four innings of the career with 419.

Bangladesh, who had to bat a little over an hour before stumps, negotiated it quite comfortably for the most part with openers Mahmudul Hasan Joy and Zakir Hasan scoring freely. They would have gone wicketless too if not for an absolute peach from Lahiru Kumara that seamed back sharply from outside off to scythe through Joy and clip the bails.

Zakir Hasan and nightwatcher Taijul Islam saw things through without further damage as Bangladesh ended the day on 55 for 1 in 15 overs.

The story of the day though was about the Sri Lanka batters. It took Bangladesh 159 overs to bowl out the visitors, roughly an hour into the final session. Shakib Al Hasan ended with figures of 3 for 110, along with two for debutant Hasan Mahmud and one apiece for Khaled Ahmed and Mehidy Hasan Miraz.

On the whole, though, it was a tough day in the field for the hosts, particularly with their profligacy in the field once more coming to the fore. They dropped two more catches, making it five for the innings, as Prabath Jayasuriya and Kamindu became the latest beneficiaries.

Jayasuriya, who was on 6 at the time, flashed at a wide one from Khaled and got a thick edge. It flew to first slip, who bobbled it up towards second slip, who continued the juggling before third slip also sprung forward and failed to hold on. It was a sequence that summed up Bangladesh’s time in the field.

That it came during Bangladesh’s most menacing period of the day - post lunch - was also further evidence of how such lapses served to snuff out any momentum that might have been building. In this instance, with Khaled having just trapped Dhananjaya de Silva lbw, another wicket could have set them on their way to bundling out Sri Lanka’s tail cheaply.

But as things would pan out, Jayasuriya ended up sticking around for another 66 deliveries, contributing 28 in a 65-run stand with Kamindu. Kamindu himself was dropped later on - on 60 - by a sprinting Mahmud on the square-leg boundary. He scored another 32 after the reprieve.

In total, Kamindu added 120 alongside the last four batters, a majority of which could have been mitigated had Bangladesh held on to their catches.

Earlier in the day, Chandimal and Dhananjaya patiently negotiated the first hour of play, and were content to wait for the loose deliveries. While the Bangladesh seamers did probe good areas, boundary balls were a frequent feature as well, which alleviated any pressure being built.

For most of the day, the Bangladesh bowlers did not stick to set lines and lengths. And even when they did, all it took was one shot of aggression by the Sri Lanka batters to disrupt their plans.

And when a plan did work, such as when Khaled and Mahmud were peppering the batters with a barrage of bouncers, the lack of a third seamer allied with the hot and humid conditions meant it could not be persevered for any significant length of time.