Liton stars as five batters hit fifties in warm-up match
The first Test will start on April 21.
Five Bangladesh batters got half-centuries in the two-day intra-squad warm-up match ahead of the two-match Test series against Sri Lanka. Although the first day belonged entirely to the batters, the bowlers found reasonable success on day two.
The Tamim Iqbal-led Team Red accumulated 314 in 79.1 on the first day. Tamim Iqbal, Saif Hassan, Najmul Hossain Shanto and Mushfiqur Rahim got fifties while Nurul Hasan Sohan played a handy knock of 48. The solitary wicket on day one was picked up by Shuvagata Hom.
For Team Green, opener Liton Das initially walked off scoring 27. Then he came back to bat again at a different position and scored a half-century. Liton retired voluntarily after scoring 64.
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Test skipper Mominul Haque was dismissed for a duck initially. Then he batted again and got some runs under his belt before the all-important Test series. Mominul scored 47 and Mohammad Mithun scored 28.
Mehidy Hasan Miraz was among the wickets. The off-spinner picked up three wickets conceding 41 runs. Right arm seamer Abu Jayed and slow left-arm bowler Taijul Islam chipped in with one wicket each.
Chief selector Minhajul Abedin Nannu heaped praise on the batters on day one and admitted that it was tough for the bowlers. The former international cricketer emphasised on finding the right line and length especially in such hot and humid conditions.
Top-order batsman Najmul Hossain Shanto was satisfied with the batting practice they had and suggested that the players should take one session at a time in order to do well.
After the two-day match, Bangladesh will announce the main team for the series.
The two matches between Bangladesh and Sri Lanka will be played at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium in Kandy.
The first Test will start on April 21. The second Test will be played on April 29.
