BAN vs SL, 1st Test: Review: Bangladesh eke out a draw courtesy Mominul Haque

Bangladesh have managed to play out a draw on the fifth and final day of the first Test of the two-match series against Sri Lanka. The visitors were all over them by the end of the pay on the fourth day and needed a herculean effort from their batsmen to eke out a fair result for themselves. However, the series stays at 0-0 now with the second and final Test match to be played in Dhaka on February 8.

The duo of Mominul Haque and Liton Das walked out to bat on the fifth morning with their team still trailing by 119 runs in the second innings. The pitch had started to deteriorate and the visitors had three spinners up their sleeves to wreak havoc in the opposition camp. But both the batsmen applied themselves perfectly well and slowly got settled. They put away the bad balls and respected the good balls with the odd ball turning exceedingly from the rough.

Haque sets the record

They played out the first session without losing the wicket as both the batsmen went past the 50-run mark. A couple of wicketless hours had settled the nerves in the dressing room as well. Meanwhile in the first hour after the lunch, Mominul notched up his sixth Test century and also became the first ever Bangladesh cricketer to score tons in every innings of the single match. Soon after the milestone though he was dismissed by the part-time bowler Dhanajaya de Silva on 106.

His wicket also ended the 180-run stand with Liton Das who was playing beautifully at the other end. But he threw his wicket away on 94 and missed out on a well-deserved ton. Rangana Herath was the wicket-taker and Dilruwan Perera took a brilliant catch running behind. But since then the skipper Mahmudullah and Mosaddek Hossain played out almost 18 overs to add only 25 runs and made sure that there were no further hiccups.

With the last hour still to go, the captains decided to shake hands as the match was heading towards a tame draw. Sri Lanka would be disappointed as they missed out on a chance to take the lead in the Test series. But they will take heart from their performances after conceding 513 in the first innings. The hosts must be feeling that they got out of the jail and have some serious thinking to do over their bowling performance.

Mominul Haque was named the Man of the Match was heroics with the bat. Both the teams now will head into the decider which will be played at Shere Bangla National Stadium in Dhaka.

Brief Scores:

Bangladesh 513 (M Haque 176, M Rahim 92, Mahmudullah 83*; S Lakmal 3/68, R Herath 3/150) & 307/5 (M Haque 106, L Das 94; R Herath 2/80)

Sri Lanka 713/9decl (K Mendis 196, De Silva 173, R Silva 109; T Islam 4/219, M Hasan 3/174)

Result: Match Drawn

Man of the  Match: Mominul Haque