Dhaka – Kusal Mendis’ unbeaten 166 propelled Sri Lanka to 321/4 in the first innings against Bangladesh on day-1 in the first Test of the Joy Bangla Cup series at Galle International Stadium on Tuesday.Batting first, Sri Lanka remained at stumps playing 88 overs for the 1st day’s collection spurred by the dominant 4th stand of 196 in 43 overs between Mendis and Asela Gunaratne.Taskin Ahmed bowled out Gunaratne to end the 4th pair at 288/4 in 82.5 overs.AgencyAfter the departure of Gunaratne, Niroshan Dickwella came to the crease and was batting on with 14 runs when the bails were drawn for the 1st day.Mendis faced 242 balls to fire 18 boundaries and two over boundaries for his 2nd Test century while Gunaratne stayed for 85 off 134 balls, including seven boundaries.Bangladesh bowlers dominated the day’s play up to the lunch, restricting them at 61/2 in 24 overs when Mendis (19) and Dinesh Chandimal (1) were batting for the side in the 3rd pair.Mustafizur Rahman, who returned in the Tigers XI for his 3rd Test, after around 20 months break, delivered an off cutter with speeding at 127kph which departed Chandimal from the 3rd pair.Mustafizur delivered the 5th ball of his 10th over to dismiss Chandimal who was caught by Mehedi Hasan Miraz at 92/3 in 39.5 overs from where Mendis and Gunaratne started their partnership.Pace bowler Subashis Roy made the first breakthrough for Bangladesh bowling out Lankan left-handed batsman Upul Tharanga (4) in his 4th ball of the first spell at 15/1 in 5.4 overs.Dimuth Karunaratne paired with one down Mendis in the 2nd wicket and tried well to tune the note, contributing 45 in 16.5 overs, but Miraz bowled out Karunaratne at 60/2 in 22.3 overs to jolt the hosts again.Taskin, Mustafizur, Subashis and Miraz took one wicket each for 48, 50, 58 and 66 runs respectively while the other bowlers — Shakib Al Hasan, Mahmudullah Riyad and Soumya Sarkar — failed to bag any wickets. Brief Score:Sri Lanka 1st innings: 321/4 in 88 overs at stumps; Kusal Mendis batting 166, Asela Gunaratne 85, Dimuth Karunaratne 30, Niroshan Dickwella batting 14, Taskin Ahmed 1/48, Mustafizur Rahman 1/50, Subashis Roy 1/58, Mehedi Hasan Miraz 1/66.
