Mushfiqur Rahim missed out on his double century while Liton Das missed a ton as Bangladesh slipped to 484-9 despite the duo added 149 runs for the fourth wicket on the second day of the first Test against Sri Lanka at the Galle International Stadium on Wednesday.听
Bangladesh had control of the match for the most part of the day before Mushfiq鈥檚 wicket triggered a collapse as they lost five wickets for just 26 runs. 听Mushfiq scored 163 off 350 deliveries, while Liton made 90 off 123 balls.
Both Hasan Mahmud and Nahid Rana were unbeaten without scoring when the umpires called off the day鈥檚 play due to bad light.听
The Tigers resumed on 292-3 overnight and turned the screws on a batting-friendly wicket, with Mushfiq and Najmul Hossain Shanto extending their record-breaking partnership.
The 264-run partnership 鈥� just two runs short of Bangladesh鈥檚 record for the fourth wicket 鈥� finally ended when Shanto fell for 148, deceived in the air as he attempted to drive one from a slower ball from Asitha Fernando.
Shanto's fluent innings was peppered with 15 boundaries and a six, and this was the Bangladesh captain鈥檚 first hundred since 2023.听
But Mushfiq and Liton continued to make the hosts toil as their partnership was swelling.听
The duo, however, each got multiple reprieves as the Sri Lankans missed catches and run-out opportunities on multiple occasions.听
Mushfiq, who resumed the day on 105, reached his 150鈥攖he seventh of his career鈥攕oon after the lunch.听
He was cautious throughout his innings, while Liton started quickly. The wicketkeeper-batter needed 64 balls to reach his fifty.听
However, their progress was halted when rain arrived at Galle midway through the second session. Play was subsequently suspended for two hours and 35 minutes, including the scheduled tea break.听
But the duo seemed to have full control on a benign wicket as Liton started to play shots.听
Fernando then struck again to break the stand by dismissing Mushfiq with a well-set-up series of outswing and inswing deliveries.听
Mushfiq challenged the lbw decision after being trapped in front, but it went in favour of the hosts.听
Mushfiq鈥檚 wicket somehow prompted Liton to play a reverse sweep off Tharindu Rathnayake, who was bowling through a leg stump line, and he paid the ultimate price.听
Milan Rathnayake then struck thrice in consecutive overs to get Jaker Ali, Nayeem Hasan, and Taijul Islam.听
The pacer had bowled economically on the first day without any success. This time he got three in the same number of overs.听
Fernando and Tharindu also got three wickets each so far.听
Play will resume 15 minutes earlier today than the scheduled start to make up the lost time due to rain.
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