Tigers let it slip
After dominating with a brilliant batting display on the first day of the first Test Bangladesh went on to lose the momentum and made a few errors that eventually cost them the ascendancy by the end of the second day. Sri Lanka capitalised on the opportunities provided by the home side as Dhananjaya de Silva struck his third Test hundred and Kusal Mendis was also nearing his century to stage a strong reply.
MOMINUL'S MISSED OPPORTUNITY
All eyes were on overnight batsman Mominul Haque who, batting on 175, was approaching his maiden double hundred when Bangladesh resumed the day on 374 for four. However, the left-hander disappointed after adding only one run before he misjudged the flight of left-arm spinner Rangana Herath and went for the flick a bit early. He was caught sharply by the short-leg fielder after it hit his shoulder. Mominul would be disappointed on missing out on a double hundred after having approached his innings till that point with great composure. Since his departure the home side lost the way and, apart from Mahmudullah's responsible unbeaten knock of 83, the Bangladesh batting collapsed in no time and were eventually bundled out midway through the second session.
THE DROPPED CATCHES
The pitch at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium has not offered as much for the spinners as anticipated but the Bangladeshi fielders were also unable to grab the opportunities when it mattered. Bangladesh are yet to have a specialist slip fielder, which proved costly yet again. Kusal Mendis survived two chances, both in the sip cordon. First it was Mehedi Hasan Miraz who was unable to hold on when the right-hander, on four, edged to second slip off Mustafizur Rahman in the fifth over and Mehedi went for the catch with one hand but was unable to hold on to the ball. Imrul Kayes was the other culprit who once again displayed a lack of awareness of the basic rules of slip fielding and was late to react to a straightforward edge off the bowling of Mehedi in the 31st over, with Mendis on 57. The two dropped catches proved costly as Mendis was still at the crease on 83 runs and heading towards his hundred.
BOWLING INDISCIPLINE AND CAPTAINCY BY ROTE
While the pitch offered hardly any assistance to the spinners the Bangladesh bowlers did themselves no favours by being wayward in their lines and lengths, which allowed the batsmen to score freely. Spinners Sunzamul Islam and Mehedi Hasan Miraz remained inconsistent. Debutant left-arm spinner Sunzamul bowled a lot of short-pitched and loose deliveries to release whatever pressure the Tigers managed to exert on the two Lankan batsman and allowed them to settle easily. Mehedi also went for 45 off his eight overs and the off-spinner was unable to string together dot balls, which has been a big concern of late. There was also some captaincy by rote from new skipper Mahmudullah Riyad, who took Mehedi off immediately after he took the only wicket to fall in the third over and introduced left-arm spinners from both ends, presumably keeping the right-handed batsmen in mind but the ploy did not work.
WASTED REVIEWS
The Bangladesh fielders and captain Mahmudullah were not too smart when it came to taking reviews. Taijul was over-excited in the last hour of the day and it was during his bowling that the home side went on to lose both reviews. The first one was in the 36th over when he advocated for a leg-before review against Kusal Mendis off a ball that pitched marginally on leg stump and turned away sharply, and the replays showed that it would have missed the stumps. The other one was in the 42nd over for a caught-behind review against the same batsman which the umpire denied and the review revealed that there was no sign of a deflection. There was another optimistic appeal in between, when in the 40th over Mendis came down the track to Taijul, and the not out decision remained because the replays showed that he was more than three metres down the track.
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