The Galle wicket remained batting-friendly for the third successive day and the Sri Lankan batters made the most of it against a toothless Bangladeshi attack, reaching 368-4 at stumps to trail the visitors by just 127 runs at the end of the third day's play yesterday.
Bangladesh skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto hopes that his side would start the upcoming ICC World Test Championship 2025-27 cycle on the right foot as they prepare to take on hosts Sri Lanka in a two-match Test series, scheduled to get underway on Tuesday in Galle.
Sri Lankan all-rounder Angelo Mathews on Monday said that he holds no grudges over getting timed out by Bangladesh in the 2023 ODI World Cup a day before facing the familiar foes in his final ever Test match in Galle.
Rain threat looms large over the opening Test of the two-match series between Bangladesh and Sri Lanka at the Galle International Stadium as the city is likely to witness light to heavy rain throughout five days of the match according to the weather forecast..
The full Test squad, however, returned to action on Monday, with newly-appointed pace bowling coach Shaun Tait taking charge of the seamers for the first time.
“I am extremely happy to be named the ICC Men’s Player of the Month, which I consider an inspiration for my international career,” Mendis was quoted in an ICC press release.
Chandimal, who made 59 in the first innings and nine in the second innings, returned home on the fourth day of the match
The Lankans, who resumed the day's play on 102-6. added, 55 runs in the first hour of play before declaring the innings
He joined Mushfiqur Rahim, Tamim Iqbal and Shakib Al Hasan in the 4000s club. It took him 113 innings to reach the milestone.
“I think he [Hasan] has bowled really well. He controlled his line pretty well. His pace was good. He is ready physically,” said bowling coach Andre Adams.
Bangladesh, led by Najmul Hossain Shanto, suffered a 328-run hammering at the hands of the Lankans following an abysmal batting performance in the series opener in Sylhet.
In the Sylhet Test, Sri Lanka didn’t outplay Bangladesh because they had more experience, instead they outdid the hosts because of their superior mindset.
“If you ask me, it would have been better had Liton not played in the Test,” Papon told the media today.
Shakib last played a Test in April 2023 when Bangladesh met Ireland in Mirpur
“I can’t speak about Liton’s dismissal. Liton can explain it better. But yes, you don’t see such dismissals often in Test cricket,” Shanto said after the match
“Not just us, both team’s top-order struggled. But we don’t want to use that as an excuse. We need to work on how we can improve from here,” Shanto said after the match
The Tigers lost the wicket of night-watchman Taijul Islam early in the day, getting trapped LBW for six, after the Tigers began the fourth day reeling on 47 for 5
“Our batting, to me, was really unexpected and not at all acceptable,” Razzak told the media after the day’s play.
“We couldn’t prepare a lot [for the Tests]. We had T20s and ODIs [against Sri Lanka]. We had to play Tests just two [three] days after that. This might’ve been a reason.”
