Sri Lankan openers Dimuth Karunaratne and Lahiru Thirimanne both stroked patient centuries as Sri Lanka ended day 1 of the 2nd Test against Bangladesh on 291/1.
A long-term opening partnership?
Karunaratne and Thirimanne put on 209 runs for the 1st wicket, their 3rd consecutive 100+ opening partnership in Test cricket; they became the 1st Sri Lankan pair to record the feat. Both rode their luck early on in the day as the Bangladeshi fielders were just unable make the most of the opportunities that came their way.
The first real chance went abegging when Karunaratne was dropped on 28 off the bowling of Taskin Ahamed as Najmul Hossain Shanto was unable to hold on to a regulation chance at slip. A couple of run-out opportunities followed, however, as the bowlers began to tire, the two left-handers flourished, picking up the run-rate in the afternoon session.
The rebirth of Lahiru Thirimanne
Thirimanne faced a barrage of criticism when he received the call-up to Sri Lanka’s Test team in 2021, but he has repaid the faith the selectors had in him, scoring nearly 650 runs in 7 games so far, only second to Joe Root’s 794 this year.
The left-hander had made 4 half centuries in his last 5 Test innings but would have been desperate to get to that 3-figure mark, particularly in such batting-friendly conditions. Not only did he manage that, but he also survived the day unbeaten, finishing on 131* after a close shave in the last over where he overturned an lbw decision via DRS.
Thirimanne also went past the 2000 run mark in Tests, notably making more than a quarter of those runs in his last 7 games.
Another batting paradise?
Sri Lanka had expected a drier surface at Pallekelle, but it behaved pretty similarly to the surface that was produced in the 1st Test, which saw a total of 1,289 runs scored for the loss of just 17 wickets. As a result, the Bangladeshi bowlers were made to toil hard, for no reward – but it must be said that a few half-chances went abegging too.
Taskin Ahamed continued to impress and will be disappointed he didn’t pick up at lease a couple of wickets, while Shoriful Islam, the debutant who replaced Ebadot Hossein, bowled with poise and control beyond his years.
Sri Lanka will begin day 2 well on top, with Thirimanne on 131* and Oshada Fernando on 40*, looking to kick on and get close to the 600-run mark, with the hope that the track will begin to assist the spinners come day 3.
Result
| Batsmen | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dimuth Karunarathne | c Liton Das b Shaiful Islam | 118 | 190 | 15 | 0 | 62.11 |
| Lahiru Thirimanne | c Liton Das b Taskin Ahamed | 140 | 253 | 15 | 0 | 55.34 |
| Oshada Fernando | c Liton Das b Mehidy Hasan Miraz | 81 | 221 | 8 | 0 | 36.65 |
| Angelo Mathews | c Liton Das b Taskin Ahamed | 5 | 15 | 1 | 0 | 33.33 |
| Dhananjaya de Silva | c Najmul Hossain Shanto b Taijul Islam | 2 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 22.22 |
| Pathum Nissanka | b Taskin Ahamed | 30 | 84 | 3 | 0 | 35.71 |
| Niroshan Dickwella | not out | 77 | 72 | 8 | 1 | 106.94 |
| Ramesh Mendis | c Mushfiqur Rahim b Taskin Ahamed | 33 | 68 | 2 | 0 | 48.53 |
| Extras | 7 (b 3 , lb 2 , nb 1, w 1, pen 0) |
| Total | 493/7 (159.2 Overs, RR: 3.09) |
| Fall of Wickets | 1-209 (63.1) Dimuth Karunarathne, 2-313 (104.1) Lahiru Thirimanne, 3-319 (108.1) Angelo Mathews, 4-328 (111.5) Dhananjaya de Silva, 5-382 (135.4) Pathum Nissanka, 6-382 (136.2) Oshada Fernando, |
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Abu Jayed | 22 | 4 | 69 | 0 | 3.14 | |
| Taskin Ahamed | 34.2 | 7 | 127 | 4 | 3.71 | |
| Mehidy Hasan Miraz | 36 | 7 | 118 | 1 | 3.28 | |
| Shaiful Islam | 29 | 6 | 91 | 1 | 3.14 | |
| Taijul Islam | 38 | 7 | 83 | 1 | 2.18 | |
| Batsmen | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tamim Iqbal | c Lahiru Thirimanne b | 92 | 15 | 12 | 0 | 613.33 |
| Saif Hassan | c Dhananjaya de Silva b | 25 | 62 | 4 | 1 | 40.32 |
| Najmul Hossain Shanto | c Lahiru Thirimanne b Ramesh Mendis | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Mominul Haque | lbw b Ramesh Mendis | 49 | 104 | 7 | 0 | 47.12 |
| Mushfiqur Rahim | lbw b | 40 | 62 | 7 | 0 | 64.52 |
| Liton Das | c Lahiru Thirimanne b | 8 | 11 | 2 | 0 | 72.73 |
| Mehidy Hasan Miraz | lbw b Suranga Lakmal | 16 | 33 | 1 | 0 | 48.48 |
| Taijul Islam | hit-wicket b | 9 | 50 | 1 | 0 | 18.00 |
| Taskin Ahamed | lbw b | 0 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Shaiful Islam | b Suranga Lakmal | 0 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Abu Jayed | not out | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Extras | 12 (b 2 , lb 9 , nb 1, w 0, pen 0) |
| Total | 251/10 (51 Overs, RR: 4.92) |
| Fall of Wickets | 1-98 (25.4) Saif Hassan, 2-151 (43.2) Tamim Iqbal, |
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Suranga Lakmal | 10 | 0 | 30 | 2 | 3.00 | |
| Vishwa Fernando | 7 | 1 | 19 | 0 | 2.71 | |
| Angelo Mathews | 2 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 3.50 | |
| Ramesh Mendis | 31 | 7 | 86 | 2 | 2.77 | |
| Dhananjaya de Silva | 1 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 6.00 | |
| Batsmen | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lahiru Thirimanne | c Najmul Hossain Shanto b Mehidy Hasan Miraz | 2 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 33.33 |
| Dimuth Karunarathne | c Tamim Iqbal b Saif Hassan | 66 | 78 | 7 | 1 | 84.62 |
| Oshada Fernando | st Liton Das b Taijul Islam | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 20.00 |
| Angelo Mathews | c Saif Hassan b Taijul Islam | 12 | 35 | 0 | 1 | 34.29 |
| Dhananjaya de Silva | c Najmul Hossain Shanto b Mehidy Hasan Miraz | 41 | 52 | 4 | 1 | 78.85 |
| Pathum Nissanka | c Shaiful Islam b Taijul Islam | 24 | 31 | 2 | 0 | 77.42 |
| Niroshan Dickwella | c Taijul Islam b Taskin Ahamed | 24 | 25 | 2 | 0 | 96.00 |
| Ramesh Mendis | c Tamim Iqbal b Taijul Islam | 8 | 12 | 1 | 1 | 66.67 |
| Suranga Lakmal | b Taijul Islam | 12 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 200.00 |
| Praveen Jayawickrama | not out | 3 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 60.00 |
| Extras | 1 (b 0 , lb 0 , nb 1, w 0, pen 0) |
| Total | 194/9 (42.2 Overs, RR: 4.58) |
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mehidy Hasan Miraz | 14 | 3 | 66 | 2 | 4.71 | |
| Shaiful Islam | 1 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 8.00 | |
| Taijul Islam | 19.2 | 2 | 72 | 5 | 3.75 | |
| Taskin Ahamed | 4 | 0 | 26 | 1 | 6.50 | |
| Saif Hassan | 4 | 0 | 22 | 1 | 5.50 | |
| Batsmen | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tamim Iqbal | c Niroshan Dickwella b Ramesh Mendis | 24 | 26 | 3 | 1 | 92.31 |
| Saif Hassan | c Suranga Lakmal b Praveen Jayawickrama | 34 | 46 | 5 | 1 | 73.91 |
| Najmul Hossain Shanto | b Praveen Jayawickrama | 26 | 44 | 4 | 0 | 59.09 |
| Mominul Haque | b Ramesh Mendis | 32 | 48 | 4 | 0 | 66.67 |
| Mushfiqur Rahim | c Dhananjaya de Silva b Ramesh Mendis | 40 | 63 | 5 | 0 | 63.49 |
| Liton Das | lbw b Praveen Jayawickrama | 17 | 46 | 1 | 0 | 36.96 |
| Mehidy Hasan Miraz | c Pathum Nissanka b Praveen Jayawickrama | 39 | 89 | 4 | 0 | 43.82 |
| Taijul Islam | c Niroshan Dickwella b Dhananjaya de Silva | 2 | 30 | 0 | 0 | 6.67 |
| Taskin Ahamed | c Dimuth Karunarathne b Ramesh Mendis | 7 | 33 | 0 | 0 | 21.21 |
| Shaiful Islam | not out | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Abu Jayed | lbw b Praveen Jayawickrama | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Extras | 6 (b 3 , lb 2 , nb 1, w 0, pen 0) |
| Total | 227/10 (71 Overs, RR: 3.2) |
| Fall of Wickets | 1-31 (7.1) Tamim Iqbal, 2-73 (16.4) Saif Hassan, 3-104 (22.5) Najmul Hossain Shanto, 4-134 (31.6) Mominul Haque, 5-171 (41.4) Mushfiqur Rahim, 6-183 (50.2) Liton Das, 7-206 (61.2) Taijul Islam, 8-227 (69.4) Taskin Ahamed, 9-227 (70.3) Mehidy Hasan Miraz, 10-227 (70.6) Abu Jayed, |
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Suranga Lakmal | 4 | 2 | 14 | 0 | 3.50 | |
| Ramesh Mendis | 28 | 2 | 103 | 4 | 3.68 | |
| Praveen Jayawickrama | 32 | 10 | 86 | 5 | 2.69 | |
| Dhananjaya de Silva | 7 | 1 | 19 | 1 | 2.71 | |
