Mominul goes earlyBangladesh resumed the day on 374 runs for the loss of four wickets and all eyes were on Mominul Haque after the left-hander batted superbly on day one, remaining unbeaten on 175. His wicket was crucial for both the teams in the context of the game and Sri Lanka won the battle early on day two as they took Mominul’s wicket in the third over of the day. Mominul clipped a fuller delivery on the pads but used hard wrists and chipped it into the air. Kusal Mendis, standing at short leg, took a sharp reflex catch above the chest region with both hands. And so Bangladesh were on the backfoot straightaway. Mominul (176) missed the chance to become the fourth batsman in Bangladesh’s Test match history to score a double hundred after Mushfiqur Rahim (200), Tamim Iqbal (206) and Shakib al Hasan (217).Mahmudullah’s lone battleCaptain Mahmudullah scored some crucial runs in the end to lift the score past 500. Bangladesh lost regular wickets after an impressive first day but Mahmudullah was batting well at the other end and kept the scoreboard ticking. The right-hander remained undefeated right until the end of the innings, scoring 83 off 134 balls with seven boundaries and two over boundaries. Mahmudullah formed a 20-run partnership with Mominul for the fifth wicket, 14-run stand with Mosaddek Hossain for the sixth wicket, 27 runs with Mehedi Hasan Miraz for the seventh wicket, 58-run partnership with Sanjamul Islam for the eighth wicket, three-run stand with Taijul Islam for the ninth wicket and 35 runs with Mustafizur Rahman for the 10th wicket. Mahmudullah scored the second highest amount of runs on his captaincy debut as a Bangladeshi, falling short of Shakib’s tally. Shakib made the most runs on captaincy debut, scoring 96 not out against the West Indies in 2009.Mendis dropped twice, scores bigBangladesh missed two chances to dismiss Kusal Mendis, who finished unbeaten on 83 after day two’s play. Replying to Bangladesh’s 513, the Lankans lost an early wicket, that of Dimuth Karunaratne in the third over. The start could have been better for Bangladesh if Miraz had taken a diving catch of Mendis at second slip. The delivery took an edge and went towards the gap between first and second slip. Miraz, who was at second slip, tried to catch it one-handed but was not able to grab the ball properly. So, an important catch dropped and Sri Lanka formed a crucial partnership for the second wicket. Mendis was batting on four runs then. Another chance was dropped in the fifth ball of the 31st over while Miraz was bowling. It took an outside edge and the ball flew between the wicket-keeper and first slip. Imrul Kayes, who was at first slip, reacted late. Mendis was batting on 64 then. As it were, two chances were dropped and Dhananjaya de Silva and Mendis added 187 unbroken runs for the second wicket.
Thursday, June 04, 2026
