After the early end of the second day’s play due to insufficient light, Bangladesh head coach Russell Domingo on Thursday said he was expecting some quick runs on the morning of the third day of the Kandy Test to put more pressure on hosts Sri Lanka.
Overnight batters Mushfiqur Rahim (43) and Liton Das (25) acted accordingly as they added 37 runs in just over nine overs taking the score from 474 to 511 before Liton Das was caught by Oshada Fernando at the ball of Vishwa Fernando. Before returning to pavilion, Liton (50) scored his eighth Test fifty in 67 balls.
Mushfiqur, however, remained not out with 68 runs when Bangladesh captain Mominul Haque, who scored his first overseas century (127 off 304 balls) and 11th overall in Tests on the second day, declared the innings with 541/7 on the board, just half an hour before lunch break on the third day.
On the way to his 68 runs, Mushfiqur Rahim became the highest run scorer (4605 in 135 innings of 73 matches) in Tests for Bangladesh toppling Tamim Iqbal (4,598 in 120 innings of 63 matches), who scored 90 runs on the first day of the match at Pallekele Stadium, Kandy, Sri Lanka. Tamim Iqbal toppled Mushfiqur Rahim from the seat on the way to his 90.
Mehidy Hasan Miraz (3) and Taijul Islam (2) were the two other batsmen who lost their wickets. Vishwa Fernando and Suranga Lakmal picked up the two wickets.
Besides, Najmul Hossain Shanto hit a magnificent century (163 off 378 balls), his first in Tests, helping Tigers accumulate the mammoth score of 541 runs in the first innings.
For Sri Lanka, Vishwa Fernando picked up four wickets while Suranga Lakmal, Lahiru Kumara and Dhananjaya de Silva took one wicket each.