Twitter Reactions: Angelo Mathews' 12th Test century gives Sri Lanka upper hand against Bangladesh

The first day of the first test between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh ended in the visitors’ favour as an unbeaten century from Angelo Mathews kept them in the driver’s seat. Winning the toss and electing to bat first, they made sure to keep going for long in the team, taking their scoreboard to a good total and adding pressure on the hosts.

Skipper Dimuth Karunaratne had to make an early exit as he was dismissed for a low score of 9(17) by Nayeem Hasan. But Mathews took charge from the word go. The conditions supported the batters as the ball did not hurt them much and the Bangladesh bowlers struggled. In the first session, the spinners managed to scalp two wickets after the seamers failed but Kusal Mendis and Mathews kept rotating the strike to take the game forward at a good pace.

Even the second session ended up how Sri Lanka wanted it to be. The hosts could not go past the set-duo on the field, whereas the visitors kept finding the gaps at regular intervals to send the ball towards the fence. The two batters brought up their half-centuries in the session, putting Bangladesh in trouble.

Sri Lanka move past Bangladesh bowlers without much trouble

Mendis was dismissed on the very first ball of the third session after scoring a 131-ball 54. Dhananjaya de Silva, who replaced him could not withstand Shakib al Hasan’s attack and found his way back to the pavilion early in his innings. Shakib and Taijul Islam made sure that the Lankans don’t get much opportunity to score in the final session which restricted them well.

Dinesh Chandimal was a great support to Mathews as the two took their side till the end of the session. Even after the plan set by the bowlers, they managed to crack the code in order to end the day on a high note. Mathews kept his calm and composure on the field as he brought up his 12th Test century in style as Sri Lanka ended scoring 258/4 in 90 overs.

Here’s how Twitter reacted: