Shadman leads Bangladesh after two strikes before lunch

Lunch Bangladesh 71 for 2 (Shadman 43*, Shanto 7*) vs Sri Lanka

After electing to bat, Bangladesh proceeded cautiously on the first morning of the second Test in Colombo. At lunch, they had moved on to 71 for 2, at a run rate of 2.73.

Shadman Islam was on a patient 43 off 86, but a mix-up and some lazy running on the stroke of lunch might have seen him throw away his wicket, had it been a direct hit. Najmul Hossain Shanto was alongside him at the crease on 7 off 21, their partnership on 28 off 59. For Sri Lanka, Asitha Fernando and Dhananjaya de Silva picked up the two wickets to fall.

Anamul Haque was the first to go, chopping on one that nipped back in from back of a length, marking his second duck in his past three innings as his poor form in Tests continues to lag behind his prolific domestic record. Anamul might have gone earlier too, but Kusal Mendis only managed to get fingertips on an outside edge, one that seemed destined for first slip. Anamul edged the very next delivery as well, but this on fell short of second slip.

Shadman and Mominul Haque then put on a stand of 38 to steady the innings after the early dismissal, only for Mominul to fall against the run of play, chipping a gentle offbreak outside off straight to short cover.

The pair had done well up until then to weather whatever lateral movement was on offer early on, and had just about begun to take on the bowling - Tharindu Rathnayake was once more the target, like in Galle; his five overs going for 22.

Tharindu had been unfortunate, though, with an edge falling short of slip and an aerial drive skimming over short extra cover, but in general he lacked consistency. He managed to get the odd one to grip outside the left-hander's off stump - particularly when he slowed down his pace - but failed to stay on those lines and lengths for prolonged periods.

On the whole, Bangladesh seemed content to wait for the bad deliveries, as highlighted by the 116 dots played across the session. The 29 singles taken also showed the relative lack of strike rotation on display. In fact, 40 runs came through boundaries.

After flirting with the idea of three seamers, both sides in the end opted to go spin heavy. For Bangladesh, Nayeem Hasan kept his place despite the return of Mehidy Hasan Miraz, while Jaker Ali made way. Seamer Hasan Mahmud had a niggle and was replaced by Ebadot Hossain.

Sri Lanka handed a debut to spin-bowling allrounder Sonal Dinusha, who will supplement a spin attack that also consists of Prabath Jayasuriya, Tharindu and Dhananjaya. Vishwa Fernando replaced the injured Milan Rathnayake.