Mominul dominates first day
It was a day to make and break records and lift standards to the next level as Mominul Haque made a statement with his fifth Test hundred and will be looking for his maiden double ton today after the home side dominated Sri Lanka on the first day of the first Test by posting 374 for four at stumps at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chittagong yesterday.
There was however the late stutter of losing two quick wickets in the last hour, both extracted in successive deliveries by pacer Suranga Lakmal with the second new ball.
Mushfiqur Rahim missed his sixth Test hundred by just eight runs while Liton Das displayed a lack of awareness of his off stump by leaving a ball on the stumps.
The rest of the day was positive -- ever since stand-in captain Mahmudullah Riyad won the toss and elected to bat on a pitch that was the subject of much speculation over the past few days. The home side opted for three spinners, including uncapped left-arm spinner Sunzamul Islam.
Openers Imrul Kayes and Tamim Iqbal came out with an aggressive approach to capitalise on the batting-friendly nature of the pitch. Tamim was the aggressor as the left hander charged off-spinner Dilruwan Perera over and hit him over mid off for four and pierced gaps with controlled strokes to help the home side get off to a free-scoring start.
After Tamim reached his 25th Test half-century, he was undone for a 53-ball 52 by a Perera delivery that held its line and went through the small gap left in the batsman's forward defence.
Imrul at the other end was shaky at the start but managed to hang around until he was unable to pick the googly from chinaman bowler Lakshan Sandakan and the umpire gave him out leg-before for 40, a dismissal that took Bangladesh to lunch on 120 for two. The replays however showed that he should have taken the review as the ball was going over the stumps.
After lunch it was total dominance from two pocket-sized batsmen in Mushfiqur and Mominul as the pair did not give a single chance to the Lankan bowlers during their record 236-run third-wicket stand for the Tigers, a Bangladesh record for that wicket.
Mominul was on song right from the start of his innings and kept the Sri Lanka bowlers wondering about the pitch, which was expected to turn and give assistance to spinners.
He reached his fifty off 59 deliveries and never looked uncomfortable, striking fours in almost every over, while Mushfiqur was solid at the other end, which forced Lankan skipper Dinesh Chandimal to retreat to a defensive field setting.
The moment of the day was Mominul's hundred, which he brought up in 96 balls with consecutive boundaries off Sandakan, and his uncharacteristically animated celebration hinted at a man trying to prove his worth and answer the questions that have been asked of him over the past three years.
Mushfiqur Rahim's dismissal, when he edged Lakmal behind, at the fag end of the day was the biggest disappointment on a day that the Tigers can truly call their own.
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