‘Even good balls are being put away for boundaries’

As the pitch at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium remained a belter of a surface for the batters, host Sri Lanka rode on skipper Dimuth Karunaratne's maiden double hundred alongside Dhananjaya De Silva's century to complete a wicketless fourth day of the first Test against Bangladesh yesterday.

It was a tough day at the office for the Bangladesh bowlers in hot and humid conditions, with the pitch hardly changing from what it was like at the start of the Test match. Pacers Taskin Ahmed, Abu Jayed and Ebadot Hossain did try to put in some effort, but the lack of bite in the pitch hardly led to the two Lankan batters being tested.

Karunaratne and Dhananjaya added 322 runs, which is the highest fourth-wicket partnership in Sri Lanka. It was also the fourth instance a pair batted out the entirety of a day of a Test match against Bangladesh.  Both batsmen were aggressive from the start of the fourth day's play, adding 102 in the 31 overs of the first session and keeping the scoring rate high.

Karunaratne reached his hundred after a more cautious approach in his nineties, but after that he and Dhananjaya frustrated the Bangladesh bowlers by using the pace of the ball often.

Mominul's strategy to bank on spinners also did not work although left-arm spinner Taijul Islam did create a chance but Liton Das failed to hold on to a thick edge off Karunaratne when he was on 166. Apart from that, both Karunaratne and Dhananjaya hardly gave the visitors any chance.

Taskin, who made his comeback to the Test side after four years, has bowled 25 overs in the innings so far -- the most among the three seamers.

Considering the flat surface, it is a tough ask for an inexperienced Bangladesh pace bowling line-up to do produce the extraordinary out of nothing. The three seamers have played a combined of 21 Tests in their career so far before this match.

"It's really difficult for the bowlers if you have such wickets in Test cricket. It is the type of surface where there are fewer options to create chances. Even good balls are being put away for boundaries. It would have been better if there was some help for the bowlers on the pitch. There is no other alternative to having patience and bowling at the right areas consistently," Taskin told media yesterday.

Now just 29 runs behind Bangladesh, the hosts are expected to take a first-innings lead on the fifth and final day. Despite the game being headed towards a draw, Lankan coach Mickey Arthur believes a win is still on the cards for the hosts.  "We're certainly thinking about winning. That's how we want to play our cricket. That's such an important culture to inculcate in a dressing room. We're not here to make up the numbers.

"I think we are a team that's hard to beat. We'll show some intent tomorrow (Sunday) and who knows where the day goes? It is very flat, but pressure is a funny thing. If we get ourselves enough in front and leave ourselves enough overs, who knows what could happen?," Arthur told media.