First hour crucial Thursday, says Samaraweera

Sri Lanka batting coach Thilan Samaraweera praised Bangladesh’s No 3 batsman Mominul Haque’s brilliant unbeaten innings of 175 and expressed hope that the pitch will remain batting friendly Thursday and day three as well when the Lankans will come out to bat. Bangladesh posted a commanding total of 374 runs losing four wickets, riding on Mominul-Mushfiqur Rahim’s 236-run third wicket partnership. Samaraweera, the former batting coach of Bangladesh, informed that Mominul’s approach was great throughout the day. “Mominul batted really well. His approach against spin was really well. It was a bit hard on the bowlers. We should have bowled better than that. It is 40 runs too many for our part. We will see how we do from now. It looks like a good batting pitch but once we bat in the second innings, we will know how flat this pitch is,” said Samaraweera during the post-day press conference at Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Cricket Stadium in the port city Wednesday.

Day 1, Tea: Bangladesh 250/2 (56 ovs) a century stand for the third wicket, Mominul Haque 107*, Mushfiqur Rahim 47*. #BANvSL pic.twitter.com/DSuCSC93Uh

— Sri Lanka Cricket (@OfficialSLC) January 31, 2018

“I think Mominul was aggressive. [When I was batting coach] we played on tough pitches against England and Australia. It was hard to approach like this match on those series, but [Wednesday's] pitch was more flat. He used his feet and the crease very well,” he added. Samaraweera said the last two wickets later in the day gave them hope of bundling Bangladesh out within 500 and believes the first hour on day two will be crucial for both the teams. “I think the last two wickets were big. We have to put more pressure on Bangladesh in the first session [Thursday], and keep them under 500. I think that’ll be a good effort. First half is crucial [Thursday]. We have given away 30-40 runs more. So we have to build pressure on Bangladesh batsmen from the beginning of day two,” Samaraweera explained.