History making Herath anticipated Bangladesh’s approach

Veteran Sri Lanka spinner Rangana Herath said Bangladesh's approach with the bat while chasing 339 runs did not surprise him or his team. The Tigers lost the second and final Test match against the Lankans by 215 runs at Mirpur Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Dhaka Saturday to concede the series 1-0. The batting intent shown by the home side is being heavily criticised. Bangladesh on the day survived only 29.3 overs and failed miserably against the Lankan spinners. The home side’s batters were aggressive trying to charge often only to get dismissed in the end. The Tigers lost their top six batsmen for just 102 runs while the remaining batters survived for a little over three overs, adding 21 runs to the tally. "The surface did not give much assistance to the batters. It was not an easy surface to bat on. Comparing Chittagong and here, spinners get more, that's what happens if you take the scores and averages," said Herath to the media following the game. "There are two ways to approach, either attacking or defensive. I honestly expected them to come and have a go at the bowlers, because I do not think you will survive long if you try to stay on that pitch," the former Test captain explained.

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With the series win, Sri Lanka bagged their second away Test series in five months. During their tour of the UAE, the Lankans had whitewashed Pakistan, winning the series 2-0. Given the dramatic transition the side are going through, Herath said this can possibly start a new journey for them. "Not only this one, even when we played in Dubai, we won 2-0 against Pakistan. Had a bad series in India. So all in all I feel we have started another journey with the Test team, hopefully we can continue with that," said the left-arm spinner. Herath in the game picked up six wickets, two in the first and another four in the second innings, to emerge as the highest left-arm Test wicket-taker in history. The Sri Lanka veteran has 415 wickets in 162 innings under his belt, a wicket more than former Pakistan fast bowler Wasim Akram, who was at the top with 414 scalps in 181 innings. "Talking about the achievement, yes of course as a left-arm spinner or as a left-arm bowler, taking 415 Test wickets, just passed Wasim Akram. Of course to be honest it is kind of a big achievement. So I would say everyone who contributed throughout my career, I would like to say thank you very much to all of them," said Herath.