Sri Lanka captain Dimuth Karunaratne. COURTESY
Sri Lanka captain Dimuth Karunaratne praised Bangladesh’s batting who showed good patience and also admitted that there was nothing for the bowlers on a batting paradise at Pallekele. He also showed satisfaction about his batting.
The batsmen were getting extra advantage from the pitch from the first day of first Test. Tigers captain Mominul Haque decided to bat first after winning the toss. Opener Tamim Iqbal was seen batting aggressively from the beginnin. However, even though Tamim stopped at 90, Najmul Hossain Shanto and Mominul tested Lanka’s patience and both scored centuries.
Shanto smashed a fantastic 163-run innings and Mominul, who got his first away ton, scored 127 runs.
“We thought the wicket would have good pace and bounce, but in these conditions, with the heat, it was a bit flat. The bowlers tried their heart out, but Bangladesh batted very well, showed good patience,” Karunaratne said.
Though Shanto and Mominul did not get double century, Karunaratne himself made maximum use of the pitch. Apart from forming an important partnership with Dhananjaya de Silva, he picked up his first double century of his Test career and scored 244 runs. He showed satisfaction about his performance.
“I had a very hard time in the West Indies. First few overs I was struggling, but I thought if I get a start and hang around, I can get a big one,” he added.
The bowlers of both the teams had to take wickets in this Test with much difficulty. Only 17 wickets lost in three innings of the Test. Although there was nothing for the bowlers in the first Test, Karunaratne wanted some assistance for the bowlers in the second and last Test which is scheduled to start on April 29 at the same venue.
“There was nothing much for the bowlers, pretty much a batting paradise. Even if we had another chance [on this pitch], I don’t think we could have done anything differently [with the ball]. We need a 50-50 wicket [for the second Test], we need something for the bowlers as well,” he concluded.
0 Comments