Sri Lanka wrestled the advantage on day 1 at Galle making 321/4 courtesy a fine partnership between Kusal Mendis and Asela Gunaratne, the former remaining unbeaten on 166 at stumps.
Bangladesh started their day well sending Upul Tharanga and Dimuth Karunaratne back to the pavilion pretty early. Mustafizur got rid of a stagnant Chandimal but Mendis was given a reprieve after he edged Roy behind, only for it to emerge that the bowler had overstepped.
Gunaratne carried his form into Test cricket and stroked a fine half-century while Mendis went on to register a hundred despite appearing below his best early on. The Bangladeshi bowlers bowled their heart out, especially Subashis Roy, but they will need early wickets tomorrow to remain in the game.
Brief Scores at end of day 1: Sri Lanka 321/4 (Mendis 166*, Gunaratne 85, Taskin Ahmed 1/48)
Here are the talking points from day 1 of the first Test at Galle.
#5 Upul Tharanga messes up comeback
Kaushal Silva's wretched form meant Upul Tharanga was recalled to open the innings in Tests. The veteran southpaw had been doing more than a decent job at the top in limited-overs cricket in recent times.
Silva, a pretty tight, defensive opener, had become a point of discussion after his miserable failures in the South African series and wasn't picked in the 15-member squad. Tharanga, Sri Lanka hoped, would carry forward his ODI form into the Tests, particularly since he wasn’t new to the task.
However, the opener left a huge gap between bat and pad and was cleaned up by Subashis Roy with a delivery that seamed in off the surface. A 14 ball 4 on comeback does not inspire much confidence but it's a little too early to write off Tharanga.
#4 Mustafizur finds rhythm on comeback
Mustafizur Rehman looked like he had been practising hard before this game as he hit the ground running in terms of rhythm. The left arm seamer kept things tight and barely gave anything away in tidy spells.
He had Dinesh Chandimal caught at gully after a 54 ball 5. Mustafizur found his cutters drawing edges but none of them carried to fieldsmen. His accuracy was also top notch and it kept a check on the scoring rate against a fluent Kusal Mendis.
His off-cutters and extra bounce troubled the Lankan batsmen, and he was unlucky to get only one wicket in the day's play. Mendis, in particular, appeared fidgety against the young seamer but managed to stay afloat.
#3 Chandimal's uncharacteristic knock
Dinesh Chandimal was far from his best in South Africa and failed to establish his credentials as a senior member in the middle order. The batsman had also been relieved of wicket-keeping duties with Nirosha Dickwella being picked to do the job.
Chandimal had scored a 190 in the warm-up game before the first Test and has a Test average of 128.33 against the Tigers. But today was a different story and Chandimal found that he could not get going on a flat Galle wicket.
Shakib-al-Hasan was instrumental in keeping him quiet and the seamers, Taskin Ahmed and Subashis Roy also gave very little away. Chandimal struggled to 5 off 54 balls before slashing to gully off a Mustafizur delivery.
#2 Kusal Mendis stamps his class after edgy start
Kusal Mendis is touted as one of the most promising batsmen in Sri Lanka these days. The No. 3 batsman had a poor outing in South Africa and needed a big innings here to regain his confidence.
A bit of fortune early on is helpful for any batsman struggling to come back to form. Mendis received that kind of luck when he edged Roy behind but discovered that the bowler had overstepped.
Mendis struggled to middle Mustafizur as well, and looked at sea against his cutters. But the middle order batsman was fluent against the spinners and got able support from an in-form Asela Gunaratne. Once set, Mendis looked more at ease and remained unbeaten on 166 at stumps.
#1 Asela Gunaratne carries his limited-overs form into Tests
Asela Gunaratne was in spectacular form in the South African ODIs and the T20s in Australia. His performances earned him a promotion up the order by the time the T20 series in Australia was done. It also earned him a spot in the squad for the Bangladesh Tests.
Walking in at 92/3 with Sri Lanka struggling to keep the scoreboard ticking, Gunaratne gave Mendis some much-needed company. Importantly, he took the pressure off Mendis and looked very comfortable at the crease.
He was solid against the likes of Mustafizur Rehman and Shakib-al-Hasan and looked well set for a hundred, however, Taskin Ahmed found his under edge that went on to disturb the stumps when he was on 85.
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