Dimuth Karunaratne, Lahiru Thirimanne centuries deflate Bangladesh on opening day
(ESPN Cricinfo) - Centuries from Dimuth Karunaratne and Lahiru Thirimanne gave Sri Lanka full control of the first day of the second Test in Pallekele yesterday, as the home side ended at 291 for 1 at stumps.
The pitch offered next to nothing to the Bangladesh bowlers, but the visitors were also guilty of sitting on defensive lengths and spread-out fields from quite early on.
It allowed Karunaratne, fresh from his maiden double-century last weekend, and Thirimanne to dominate once they had managed to bat out the first couple of hours cautiously. The pair added 209, Sri Lanka’s first 200-plus opening stand since 2011, and the first in the country in 21 years.
The partnership, which is also the pair’s third consecutive century stand, ended when Karunaratne was caught behind off Bangladesh’s debutant Shoriful Islam shortly after tea.
Karunaratne made 118 off 190 balls, having struck 15 boundaries. During the course of the innings, he crossed 5,000 Test runs, apart from reaching his
12th Test century, the most by any active Sri Lanka batter.
Thirimanne was the more circumspect of the two, as he reached his third Test century the second this year - having piled up his fifth fifty-plus score in his last six innings. Thirimanne was unbeaten on 131 off 253 balls with 14 fours, alongside Oshada Fernando, who kept things calm after the long opening partnership. Fernando ended on 40 not out off 98 balls.
Karunaratne and Thirimanne had begun the day slowly, adding
just 66 runs in 27 overs in the first session. They had to ride out initial movement from Taskin Ahmed and Abu Jayed. Ahmed in particular was a real menace in his first two spells. He could have had an early success but Najmul Hossain Shanto dropped Karunaratne on 28 during the first session.
Only Taskin and newcomer Shoriful looked penetrative over the length of their spells, but they too seemed to have gradually got tired. Jayed hardly tried anything other than a largely straight line and length, while the spinners Taijul Islam and Mehidy Hasan Miraz bowled too quickly in most of their spells.
Karunaratne largely focused on getting his boundaries through the range between wide third man and extra cover. Eleven out of his 15 boundaries came through this region, as he hardly scored through mid-off and mid-on. Thirimanne too got plenty of runs through point and cover, and also played some fascinating straight drives besides a couple through wide mid-on.
The home side remains on course to put up a dominating first innings total, perhaps one that would be enough to keep Bangladesh out of contention for the rest of the game.