Bad light brings slow day\u2019s play to early end in Pallekele, much to Sri Lanka\u2019s relief
\nnews agency
\nKandy
\nBad light ate away the last 90-odd minutes of play on the second day, leaving Bangladesh very much in control with 474 on 4 on the board, even though they hardly moved the run-rate needle with their 172 runs in 65 overs on the day. On a pitch where bowlers have found almost no joy, the Bangladesh batters haven\u2019t shown any interest in forcing the pace, or get to a position where they can declare.
\nSri Lanka wouldn\u2019t mind putting their feet up after nearly two full days out in the field in searing heat and humidity. In fact, the extra minutes in the shade could even be advantageous for them, as it takes away more time on a pitch that might grip and turn a bit more on the remaining days.
\nOn the day, Najmul Hossain Shanto and Mominul Haque continued to be Bangladesh\u2019s batting stars, the former taking his maiden Test century to 163, while Haque reached his first overseas hundred.
\nShanto struck 17 fours and a six during his eight hours and 53 minutes at the crease, with most of those boundaries coming in the arc between point and mid-off. He took a liking to Dhananjaya de Silva\u2019s offspin, hitting him for eight boundaries while he was generally watchful against the pace trio of Suranga Lakmal, Vishwa Fernando and Lahiru Kumara, who eventually sent him back caught and bowled. Shanto and Haque added 242 runs, a record for Bangladesh\u2019s third wicket, after Shanto and Tamim Iqbal had put on a brisk 144 for the second wicket on the first day.
\nHaque was caught at slip trying to force a drive off de Silva not long after Shanto\u2019s fall. This was an important knock for the Bangladesh captain, who held the record for scoring most Test hundreds without getting a single one of them away from home – it was 10\/0 before this one. Haque was more inclined towards picking the gaps around point and cover – most of his 11 fours came through point and cover – while he dealt mostly in singles when it came to the leg side.
\nMushfiqur Rahim took his time to get going after coming in following Shanto\u2019s fall. A Sri Lankan review for lbw off Kumara first ball went in his favour courtesy an inside edge, and he had one overturned not long after when given out lbw by umpire Kumar Dharmasena off Wanindu Hasaranga. But he settled down to end the day unbeaten on 43 off 107 balls. Liton Das was with him on 25 off 39 balls with two fours and a six.
\nVishwa had taken two wickets on the first day, and on the second, there was one each for de Silva and Kumara, just rewards for the young fast bowler who hit decent speeds for most of the day. Lakmal and Hasaranga were both impressive in terms of staying disciplined, but they went wicketless in 64 overs combined.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Bad light brings slow day\u2019s play to early end in Pallekele, much to Sri Lanka\u2019s relief news agency Kandy Bad light ate away the last 90-odd minutes of play on the second day, leaving Bangladesh very much in control with 474 on 4 on the board, even though they hardly moved the run-rate needle with […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":187947,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-187937","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports"],"yoast_head":"\n