Bangladesh had a dismal day in batting on the opening day of their second and final Test against Sri Lanka at the Sinhalese Sports Club Ground in Colombo on Wednesday.听
They were 220-8 in 71 overs on a rain-affected day as Taijul Islam and Ebadot Hossain were batting when stumps were called due to insufficient light.听
Six of the first eight batters crossed 20s, while four crossed 30s, but none could make it to a half-century as Bangladesh lost wickets in clusters and struggled to stitch substantial partnerships even after Sri Lanka missed as many as five catches overall.听
The highest partnership of 67 runs came between Mushfiqur Rahim and Liton Das for the fifth wicket.听
Opting to bat first, Bangladesh lost Anamul Haque, who struggled again to put the bat on the ball. He was out for a 10-ball duck when he inside-edged Asitha Fernando.听
This was Anamul鈥檚 second duck in a row after making just four runs in the first innings of the first Test at Galle.听
Shadman Islam, however, looked balanced as he fell four runs shy of another fifty. Mominul threw away his wicket again when he was caught at cover off part-timer Dhananjaya De Silva.听
Najmul Hossain Shanto, fresh from his record-breaking twin hundreds, edged one behind off Vishwa Fernando after making eight from 31 runs.听
Shadman, after getting set at the crease, also edged off Tharindu Rathnayake as Bangladesh became 76-4 early in the second session.
Bangladesh then had the best passage of play amidst the rain break as Mushfiq and Liton started to rebuild.听
But both threw their wickets away as Liton was edged behind while looking desperate to play shots. Mushfiq, after getting a reprieve in the same area, was caught at deep square leg while playing a slog sweep.听
Liton made 34 while Mushfiq scored 35 runs.听
Mehidy Hasan Miraz, who made a comeback after recovering from fever, started to counter-attack but fell off Vishwa as he edged to slip after making 31 off 42. Nayeem contributed 25 before becoming the second victim of Asitha.听
Despite having a seemingly ordinary day, Shadman later said that it wasn鈥檛 that bad due to the slowness of the pitch.听
鈥業 think the wicket was a little bit slow. If we can bowl well, we will make a comeback insha鈥檃llah,鈥� the opener told reporters after the day鈥檚 play. 听
鈥楾he wicket was a bit slow. I hope 270-280 is a good score,鈥� he added.听
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