Photo : Collected
Bangladesh made an impressive start to the Sylhet Test against Sri Lanka, claiming five wickets in the first session under slightly overcast conditions on Friday (22 March).
Sri Lanka's top and middle order struggled against Bangladesh's pace attack early in the innings.
Khaled Ahmed took three wickets, while Shoriful Islam got one. Another wicket fell due to a run-out. Debutant pacer Nahid Rana bowled with an average speed of over 140 km/h, causing trouble for the Sri Lankan batsmen.
Having won the toss, Bangladesh chose to bowl first, considering the conditions and the potential for their pacers to perform well.
Sri Lanka lost their opener, Nishan Madushka, in the second over. Khaled bowled a delivery outside off, and Madushka's attempted drive resulted in a thick edge to the third slip, where Mehidy Hasan Miraz took a stunning catch.
Despite losing an early wicket, Dimuth Karunaratne and Kusal Mendis tried to settle in. However, Khaled continued to take wickets.
In the 12th over, Khaled dismissed both Karunaratne and Mendis. Mendis faced a wide short ball with extra bounce, hesitated in his shot selection, and eventually gave a catch to Zakir Hasan at gully.
On the last ball of the 12th over, Khaled removed Karunaratne with a delivery shaping into the stumps. Karunaratne's attempted drive left a gap between bat and pad, allowing the ball to sneak through and shatter the stumps.
By the time Sri Lanka reached 50 runs, they had lost four wickets, with Angelo Mathews being run out by Bangladesh captain Najmul Hossain Shanto. Just before lunch on day one, they also lost Dinesh Chandimal to Shoriful Islam, caught in a leg slip by Mehidy.
Captain Dhananjaya de Silva and Kamindu Mendis then formed a sixth-wicket partnership to stabilise Sri Lanka's innings. However, they still have a lot of work to do to post a decent total in the first innings of the Sylhet Test.
Bangladesh capitalised on the overcast conditions in Sylhet, with Khaled getting extra movement. Shoriful also found his rhythm, while Nahid Rana had an impressive debut, bowling faster than any other Bangladesh bowler in this innings, as expected. Nahid had played 15 first-class matches before his Test debut, claiming 63 wickets.
Messenger/Fameema
