Dhaka, Jan 30 (Just News): Tamim Iqbal hurtled to fifty and Mominul Haque made a fluent start to the series, but two spin-bowling strikes kept Bangladesh in check, after they had threatened to run away with the session. At lunch, Bangladesh were 120 for 2 - Imrul Kayes' dismissal heralding the break.
That the hosts' positivity against the new ball paid dividends, however, underscored the advantage Bangladesh had gained by winning the toss. With this pitch expected to wear substantially as the game goes on, early runs may prove crucial.
Sri Lanka, for their part, did not bowl as tightly as they would have liked on a surface that was proving to be unresponsive for now. Twenty-year-old fast bowler Lahiru Kumara's figures were especially unflattering - his seven overs going for 45. Kumara might have had Kayes out for six, however, had fine-leg fielder Suranga Lakmal run a better line to Kayes' miscued hook shot in the sixth over. Nonetheless, his line was inconsistent. Tamim, in particular, had picked him off either side of the wicket, hitting three consecutive fours off Kumara's first over.
Lakmal bowled with more control, but with little movement on offer, was not much more threatening. The only chance he created came in the seventh over, when an edge off Tamim's blade flew low between the wicketkeeper and slip.
Even in this first session, however, it was clear that it would be spin that would be more effective for much of this match. Tamim ran down the pitch to hit offspinner Dilruwan Perera over long on for a handsome six, but a few overs later - soon after Tamim had completed his 46-ball fifty - Perera squeezed a beautifully-flighted offbreak between Tamim's bat and pad, as he stretched forward to defend.
So secure was new batsman Mominul Haque at the crease, however, that the loss of Tamim only slightly slowed the scoring. Mominul's sumptuous back cut off Kumara was perhaps the best stroke of a shot-filled morning. While he went to lunch untested, Kayes was dismissed by a little wrist-spinning subterfuge. Not reading a sharp-turning googly from Lakshan Sandakan, he was pinned in front of the stumps for 40 in the last over before the break.
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(Justnews/ys/1200)
