Karunaratne, Mendis fifties take SL to 314/4 against BAN on Day 1 Stumps

CHATTOGRAM: Fifties from Dimuth Karunaratne and Kusal Mendis guided the visitors, Sri Lanka, to 314/4 after playing 90 overs on the first day of the second Test against Bangladesh on Saturday.

At the end of Day 1, Sri Lanka are 314/4, with Dinesh Chandimal (34) and Dhananjaya De Silva (15) unbeaten on the crease. Both players have built a partnership of 25* runs in the innings so far.

Sri Lanka skipper De Silva won the toss and elected to bat first at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chattogram.

Batters Nishan Madushka and Karunaratne came out to open the inning for the Islanders. Both batters brought the team's fifty on the penultimate ball of the 14th over as Madushka took a single on the bowling of Khaled Ahmed.

Maduska was dismissed after registering a fifty (57 runs off 105 balls) with the help of six fours. He was dismissed through a runout with a combined effort from Hasan Mahmud and Litton Das after building a partnership of 96 runs with Karunaratne.

After the opener's dismissal, Mendis came out to bat. Mendis and Karunaratne played brilliantly and built an outstanding partnership of 114 runs before the latter was sent back to the pavillion after playing a magnificent innings of 86 runs from 129 balls, which was laced with eight boundaries and one maximum.

After the left-hander's departure, team's star all-rounder, Angelo Mathews, came out to join Mendis in the middle. They both put on a partnership of 53 runs before Mendis was sent back to the dressing room after playing a marvellous innings of 93 runs in 150 balls with 11 fours and a six.

After Mendis's wicket, Dinesh Chandimal came to bat. Chandimal and Mathews were able to add only 26 runs before Mathews was dismissed after scoring 23 runs with two fours and a six.

For the hosts, the pick of the bowlers was Mahmud, who snapped two wickets in his spell of 17 overs where he conceded 64 runs with five maiden overs. One wicket was grabbed by lef-arm spinner Shakib Al Hasan in his spell of 18 overs where he conceded 60 runs and bowled two maiden overs.

Brief Score: Sri Lanka 314/4 in 90 overs (Kushal Mendis 93, Dimuth Karunaratne 86, Hasan Mahmud 2/64) against Bangladesh.