Najmul, Mushfiqur make it Bangladesh’s day

Sri Lanka Cricket felicitated Angelo Mathews who is appearing in his final Test with memento presented by SLC CEO Ashley de Silva in presence of SLC Vice President Dr. Jayantha Dharmadasa

Najmul Hossain and Mushfiqur Rahim helped Bangladesh get back on track with record partnership

Najmul Hossain celebrates his first Test century since November 2023

Bangladesh players in an act of camaraderie during ceremony to mark Angelo Mathews’ farewell in Test cricket

• Score centuries and feature in record double century stand

GALLE: Bangladesh made a splendid start to the ICC World Test Championship new cycle with skipper Najmul Hossain and Mushfiqur Rahim striking centuries apiece and taking their team to an imposing first day total of 292-3 in the first Test played at the Galle International Cricket Stadium yesterday.

Winning the toss and batting first Bangladesh slipped to 45-3 when the experienced pair came together to deny Sri Lanka another wicket for the rest of the day, resulting in a record unfinished fourth wicket partnership of 247 which is the highest for Bangladesh against Sri Lanka.

Bangladesh didn’t get off to an auspicious start as Asitha Fernando nipped out Anamul Haque for a duck. Tharindu Ratnayake, the ambidextrous spinner on debut, accounted for Shadman Islam (14) and Mominul Haque (29) off successive balls bowling right-arm off-breaks with both of them caught in the slips by skipper Dhananjaya de Silva. That’s when Najmul and Mushfiqur joined hands and it has been one-way traffic since then. There was hardly any help for the bowlers and the experienced duo made merry.

Both of them were due for runs and they notched up their respective tons without allowing the spinners to dictate terms.

Sri Lanka has a strange habit of getting out of form players back in the groove. It has happened several times in the past with players like Greg Mathews, Darren Lehmann, Suresh Raina and Usman Khawaja. Yesterday it was with Najmul and Mushfiqur Rahim who played themselves back into form by scoring centuries.

Mushfiqur after his 191 against Pakistan at Rawalpindi in August 2024 had not crossed 50 in his last 13 innings until yesterday when he brought up his 12th Test hundred and his 4th against Sri Lanka against whom he averages 55.88 – his best batting average against all major Test playing nations.

He is Bangladesh’s highest capped Test player with 97 Tests under his belt. He played sensibly and superbly alongside his captain who scored his first Test century since November 2023. Overall, it was Najmul’s 6th Test century and his second against Sri Lanka. 

Sri Lanka toiled hard and resorted to some negative bowling as well when they couldn’t break the double century partnership even with the second new ball. There was nothing on the pitch for the spinners although Sri Lanka kept on persisting with Jayasuriya and Tharindu Rathnayake. Only 8 maiden overs were bowled for the entire day which tells the story of how easy the pitch was playing. The batsmen just milked the runs with ease hitting the ball into the gaps.

Bangladesh will be eyeing a massive first innings total from here with Najmul (136* off 260 balls, 14 fours, 1 six) and Mushfiqur (105* off 186 balls, 5 fours) set to resume their partnership on day two.

Prior to the commencement of the match Angelo Mathews who is playing his final Test, was felicitated by Sri Lanka Cricket in the presence of his family, and Lahiru Udara and Tharindu Rathnayake were handed their respective Test caps.