Bangladesh’s Shanto, Mominul in record stand

Visitors in command against Sri Lanka in first Test

Najmul Shanto and skipper Mominul Haque put on a record stand of 242 as Bangladesh reached an imposing 474-4 on day two of the opening Test against Sri Lanka yesterday.

Shanto took his maiden Test century to 163 while Mominul weighed in with 127 as they shared Bangladesh’s best ever partnership for the third wicket in Tests.

Both were dismissed but they were Sri Lanka’s only successes as Mushfiqur Rahim, 43, and wicketkeeper-batsman Liton Das, 25, added 50 before bad light chewed up the last 90 minutes of the day’s play to force an early close in Pallekele. The tourists resumed the day on 302-2 with Shanto well set on 126 and Monimul on 64. Neither found the going easy on another stiflingly hot day, with the run rate grinding along against some tight Sri Lankan bowling.

Wicketless session

The left-handed Shanto, who was dropped on 28 on Wednesday, batted for close to nine hours, hitting 17 fours and one six. After a wicketless first session, Shanto finally fell to Lahiru Kumara after lunch, giving away a return catch to the pace bowler.

It marked the end of a marathon stand, which also equalled the best third-wicket effort at the venue set by the Pakistan pair of Shan Masood and Younis Khan in 2015.