BSS
Bangladesh opener Tamim Iqbal missed his well-deserved century by 10 runs on the opening day of the first Test against Sri Lanka at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium.
But before his dismissal, he laid a solid platform for the side, after Bangladesh Captain Mominul Haque chose to bat first.
The Tigers received a setback, losing opener Saif Hasan, who was out with naught in the second over of the game. But his early dismissal couldn’t stop Tamim, who came hard on the Lankan bowlers on a placid deck.
He got ably support from Nazmul Hossain Shanto, with whom he shared 144-run for the second wicket stand to put Bangladesh on strong position.
Tamim finally scored 90 off just 101, hitting 15 boundaries before he was undone by the extra bounce of pacer Vishwa Fernando. However, it was Tamim’s 29th half-century in Test cricket and second consecutive after hitting 50 against West Indies in the last Test.
This could have been his 10th century, helping him to emulate MominulHaque as the highest century-maker for Bangladesh in longer version format. But that was not to be.
