Mominul century gives Bangladesh upper hand
CHITTAGONG: Mominul Haque hit a towering century to help Bangladesh take opening day honours in the first Test against Sri Lanka in Chittagong on Wednesday.
Mominul hit an unbeaten 175 as the hosts reached 374-4 at stumps after electing to bat first at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium.
The left-hander shared a 236run third-wicket stand with former captain Mushfiqur Rahim, who fell just short of his fifth Test hundred after scoring 92 off 192 balls.
Skipper Mahmudullah Riyad, on nine, was batting alongside Mominul when stumps were drawn at the start of the twomatch series.
Opener Tamim Iqbal gave the hosts a strong start with his brisk 52 and said it was “a fantastic day” for Bangladesh.
“We were very positive and attacking from ball one. It was nice to see.”
Suranga Lakmal struck with the second new ball to claim two wickets off successive deliveries and give Sri Lanka some respite late into the final session.
Lakmal, who returned figures of 2-43, forced Mushfiqur to edge behind the stumps after he had struck 10 fours in his relatively sedate innings.
The medium-pacer bowled Liton Das for a duck with the next ball, which swung late to uproot the off-stump after the batsman had attempted to leave the delivery.
Brief scores: Bangladesh 1st innings 374/4 (T Iqbal 52, I Kayes 40, M Haque 175*, M Rahim 92, S Lakmal 2-43).