Najmul Hossain Shanto struck his maiden Test ton as Bangladesh dominated Sri Lanka on the opening day of the first Test in Kandy on Wednesday.
The Tigers reached 302-2 at stumps as Najmul hit 126 off 288 balls and was involved in two century partnerships, respectively with Tamim Iqbal and skipper Mominul Haque.
Tamim made 90 off 101 balls with 15 fours while Mominul was unbeaten on 64 at stumps.
Bangladesh, who won the toss and elected to bat first at Palllekele International Stadium, got off to a poor start as they lost opener Saif Hasan for a duck in just second over of the innings.
Saif, who was picked ahead of Shadman Islam, was trapped leg-before by medium pacer Vishwa Fernando after facing six balls.
Fernando was the only Sri Lankan bowler to get some success on what looked like a flat batting track, finishing the day with 2- 61.
He, however, had to wait until late into the second session for his second wicket, as Tamim and Najmul began to control the proceedings.
Tamim led the charge and looked like certain to get a century before he poked Fernando unnecessarily at second slip to Lahiru Thirimanne to fall 10 runs short.
It ended his 144-run second wicket stand with Najmul, who nevertheless, did not waste his chance to make an impact finally.
“We have only played on the first day. I think it is too early to talk about a result. We have to bat long to stay ahead in the game,” Najmul said after the end of first day’s play.
“It is a good wicket. I will try to bat as long as possible tomorrow by staying positive. We must bat well in the first session on the second day. Only after that, we will know what would be a good first innings total,” he added.
Najmul, who was dropped on 28, put 150 runs in an unbroken third wicket stand with Mominul to help Bangladesh finish on top.
