Sri Lanka force a draw in Chittagong Test
SRI Lanka and Bangladesh shared four points each in the ICC World Test Championship with a draw in the first Test of the two-match series on Thursday.
Some brilliant bowling from Bangladesh on the final day made things interesting in the final Test. Taijul Islam led Bangladesh’s attack with guile and spin and at 161/6, the home side would have fancied their chances to bowl the opposition out.
However, resistance from Dinesh Chandimal and Niroshan Dickwella, who put on an unbeaten 99-run stand for the seventh wicket, meant both teams had to settle for a draw.
The result means Sri Lanka and Bangladesh remain rooted to the fifth and eighth spot respectively on the World Test Championship table.
Earlier in the match, Sri
Lanka won the toss and opted to bat first. The visitors posted 397 on the back of a brilliant century from Angelo Mathews. He came agonizingly close to a double century, falling one run
short of it as he was the last Sri Lankan wicket to fall. Nayeem Hasan, playing his eighth Test, recorded his second fifer and finished with his best innings figures of 6/105.
In reply, centuries from veterans Tamim Iqbal and Mushfiqur Rahim helped Bangladesh gain a 68-run lead. It was an innings to remember for Rahim, who scored his eighth Test hundred and en route became the first Bangladesh batter to score 5000 Test runs.
On the final day, Bangladesh were in with a chance to bowl Sri Lanka out but Chandimal and Dickwella stood in their way with a patient, unbeaten partnership of 99 runs.
Resuming the day on 39/2, still 29 runs behind Bangladesh, Kusal Mendis decided attack was the best form of defence and played a counterattacking innings that quickly wiped out the deficit.
Mendis treated pace and spin with equal disdain – smashing Taijul for two fours in the very first over of the day before hitting Khaled Ahmed for three consecutive boundaries a few overs later. Nayeem, who picked up six wickets in the first innings, wasn’t spared either as Mendis hit a four and a six.
Taijul’s finally brought an end to the mayhem with a peach of the delivery that went through the gates, ending Mendis’ entertaining knock two runs short of a fifty.
Bangladesh spinners kept the pressure on the new batter Angelo Mathews. In his attempt to break the shackles, Mathews smashed the ball straight back at the bowler and Taijul completed a great return catch to send the centurion from the first innings back for a 15-ball duck.
The action now moves to Dhaka for the second Test which is set to commence on 23 May.