Bangladesh v Sri Lanka, 2013-14

Andrew Fidel Fernando

Mahela Jayawardene celebrates his century, Bangladesh v Sri Lanka, 1st Test, Mirpur, 3rd day, January 29, 2014

Mahela Jayawardene celebrates after scoring his seventh Test double hundred © Associated Press

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Series/Tournaments: Sri Lanka tour of Bangladesh

Teams: Bangladesh | Sri Lanka

Test matches (2): Bangladesh 0, Sri Lanka 1
Twenty20 internationals (2): Bangladesh 0, Sri Lanka 2
One-day internationals (3): Bangladesh 0, Sri Lanka 3

When Bangladesh captain Mushfiqur Rahim failed to resume his post behind the stumps on the second morning of the Second Test, the official explanation was a fractured finger on his left hand. If he had said that the image of Kumar Sangakkara's posterior had burned so deeply into his subconscious that it was now haunting his dreams, few would have blamed him: for the second time in 12 months, a series between these nations was shaped by a torrent of Sangakkaran runs. There were heartening moral victories for Bangladesh but, in the face of one Sri Lankan's Herculean returns, nothing tangible.

Sangakkara had arrived from a modest series against Pakistan, but warmed to the tour with a measured 75 in Mirpur, which readied the floor for a harvest of 730 for six, including a double-hundred for Mahela Jayawardene. The silken straight-drives and purring pulls returned to Sangakkara's game in force, but perhaps the most memorable moment came at the non-striker's end. On the second day he had cajoled an alarmingly twitchy Kaushal Silva through the nineties. When his partner eventually reached his first international century, Sangakkara threw his arms in the air in a rare show of elation. He would raise his bat eight times on his own behalf in the next match, but those celebrations were uniformly restrained - and almost embarrassed.

In the course of a maiden triple-hundred, in Chittagong, he became the fastest man to 11,000 Test runs, taking 208 innings - which eclipsed Brian Lara's 213. He also passed Steve Waugh's Test aggregate, to move ninth on the all-time list. When he reached 200 he equalled Lara's tally of nine Test doubles; only Don Bradman (12) hit more. And he brought up 300 with his eighth six of the innings, beating Sanath Jayasuriya's Sri Lankan record of six, during a 54-run stand with last man Nuwan Pradeep Fernando (who made four).

Sangakkara was to hit another century in the second innings, and finished with 424 in the match, the third-highest aggregate in a Test. But Bangladesh were more pugnacious with the bat than in Mirpur, and secured an encouraging draw. The 1-0 result was mildly satisfactory to both teams: Bangladesh had never before drawn at home with Sri Lanka, while the tourists, who fielded a relatively inexperienced side, dominated almost every day of the series.

The limited-overs matches were a source of repeated heartbreak for Bangladesh and their desperate fans. Several times they moved into winning positions, only to squander their advantage or have it snatched from them by bad luck or contentious umpiring. Sri Lanka did not win either Twenty20 until the last ball; in the one-day format, at which Bangladesh consider themselves most adept, the margins were more decisive.

Match reports for

1st Test: Bangladesh v Sri Lanka at Mirpur, Jan 27-30, 2014
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2nd Test: Bangladesh v Sri Lanka at Chattogram, Feb 4-8, 2014
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1st T20I: Bangladesh v Sri Lanka at Chattogram, Feb 12, 2014
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2nd T20I: Bangladesh v Sri Lanka at Chattogram, Feb 14, 2014
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1st ODI: Bangladesh v Sri Lanka at Mirpur, Feb 17, 2014
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2nd ODI: Bangladesh v Sri Lanka at Mirpur, Feb 20, 2014
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3rd ODI: Bangladesh v Sri Lanka at Mirpur, Feb 22, 2014
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1st Match: Pakistan v Sri Lanka at Fatullah, Feb 25, 2014
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4th Match: India v Sri Lanka at Fatullah, Feb 28, 2014
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7th Match: Afghanistan v Sri Lanka at Mirpur, Mar 3, 2014
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10th Match: Bangladesh v Sri Lanka at Mirpur, Mar 6, 2014
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