GALLE, Sri Lanka (AP) — Offspinner Tharindu Ratnayake took two wickets in his test debut for Sri Lanka on Tuesday as Bangladesh struggled to 90 for three in the first session of the series.
Bangladesh won the toss and elected to bat in the first match of the new World Test Championship cycle but the morning session belonged to 29-year-old Ratnayake, who got his test cap after churning out wickets in the domestic circuit.
It was right-arm seamer Asitha Fernando who set the tone early. Still riding the bounce from a productive county stint with Glamorgan, he had Anamul Haque caught behind for a duck.
Then came Ratnayake, the ambidextrous bowler who can turn the ball both ways, and he made his mark in just his fourth over. Shadman Islam, with rigid feet and hands hard, poked at a delivery that spun away and only succeeded in feathering it to Dhananjaya de Silva at slip.
Ratnayake wasn’t done yet. Mominul Haque, who had been settling in nicely, edged a ball that bounced a shade more than expected. De Silva flew to his left and took a brilliant catch.
Just when Bangladesh appeared to be teetering, captain Najmul Hossain Shanto and the experienced Mushfiqur Rahim dug in. Their 45-run fourth-wicket stand helped steady the innings somewhat, but their work is far from done.
Mushfiqur, unbeaten on 20 at the lunch interval, has gone 13 innings without passing 50, a lean patch by his standards. Shanto looked composed at the other end, stroking three boundaries and a six in his 25.
Sri Lanka also handed a first test cap to Lahiru Udara, the seasoned runscorer from the domestic arena, in what will be Angelo Mathews’ 119th and last test match for his country.
The match at Galle is the first in the 2025-2027 cycle of the World Test Championship, starting just days after South Africa won the title for the first time with a victory over defending champion Australia at Lord’s on the weekend.
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AP cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket
The Associated Press
