BAN vs SL, 1st Test, Day 1, Review: Mominul Haque and Mushfiqur Rahim punish Sri Lanka

After a keenly fought tri-series, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh locked horns in the first of the two-match Test series in Chittagong. While the hosts had a point to prove after a lacklustre tour of South Africa where they were annihilated by the Proteas, the team from the island nation were on a high after triumphing in the ODI rubber. But Bangladesh batsmen pummelled them on the first day of the Test match and completely the dominated proceedings. However, the visitors need to search for wickets else the game is fast running away from them.

The stand-in skipper Mahmudullah won the toss and opted to bat first on a pitch which looked feather bed for the batters. They were depleted after an injury to their regular captain Shakib Al Hasan and also decided to play the specialist wicket-keeper in Liton Das relieving Mushfiqur Rahim from the duties. Sri Lanka, on the other hand, played almost the same team which featured in the last Test match against India in Delhi.

The opening duo of Tamim Iqbal and Inrul Kayes walked out to the middle as the former straightaway took the attack to the visitors. The new-ball bowlers Suranga Lakmal and Lahiru Kumara looked clueless as Tamim slammed a flurry of boundaries in the first hour. He also raced to his half-century and was looking dangerous to take the game away from Sri Lanka. Just when it was being thought that it would be hard to dismiss him, Dilruwan Perera castled him just after the drinks. Soon at the stroke of lunch, his partner was pinned in front to leave his team to 120/2.

Mominul annihilates Sri Lanka

Ever since Mominul Haque came out to bat there was a sense of urgency in his run-scoring. He was fluent in his strokeplay and took full toll of some hapless bowling from the visitors. He along with Mushfiqur Rahim controlled the game completely after lunch and literally scored at almost 5 an over in the partnership. Eventually, the run-rate which was hovering around 4 also boosted up to 4.6 runs every over. Both added 236 runs for the third wicket which hinted at one of the worst days for Sri Lanka on the field.

Meanwhile, Mominul reached his fifth Test century in style and was authoritative during his unbeaten stay in the middle. Even Rahim went past the half-century but missed out on a well-deserved ton as he edged a good delivery from Suranga Lakmal behind the stumps. He made 92 off 192 deliveries with 10 shots to the fence along the ground. The bowler was fired up then who also disturbed the furniture of Liton Das for a golden duck.

Amidst all the happenings, the juggernaut of Mominul continued as he went past 150 and is still looking good for more. He and the skipper Mahmudullah made sure there were no hiccups as Bangladesh finished the day on 374/4. Lakmal led the way with the ball again with a couple of wickets even as Perera and Lakshan Sandakan were the other wicket-takers. Rangana Herath was completely off-colour and needs to bowl well on the second morning in order to restrict the hosts under 450 at least.

Bangladesh, however, would look to pile on the runs and most importantly, Mominul Haque would be eyeing his maiden double century as remained unbeaten on 175 on the first day.

Brief Scores

Bangladesh 374/4 (M Haque 175*, M Rahim 92, T Iqbal 52; S Lakmal 2/43)

Follow CricTracker for more updates in the cricketing world.