OTD | Bangladesh had a memorable 100th Test as they beat Sri Lanka for the first time in 2017

Bangladesh played their first-ever Test match in 2000, against India. It has been a long and arduous journey for them where they evolved as a cricketing nation and become a better side, in all three formats of the game. Their emergence after 2015 has been phenomenal. In 2017, Bangladesh reached a hard-earned milestone as they played their 100th Test match on this day, against Sri Lanka. In their 100th Test, the Bangla Tigers registered their first Test win over Sri Lanka, making the occasion more memorable. 

First Innings

Winning the toss, the Sri Lankan captain Rangan Herath elected to bat first. The visitors shocked the opposition in the first session by dismissing almost half of the side. Sri Lanka were tottering as they lost four wickets for just 70 runs and key names like Dimuth Karunaratne, Upul Tharanga, and Kusal Mendis had to walk back without contributing much. However, Dinesh Chandimal helped ease off the pressure with his gritty stay on the crease. All the other batters batted around him as Chandimal anchored the innings. He scored a brilliant 138 runs which pushed Sri Lanka to 338 runs in the first innings. 

Unlike Sri Lanka, the Bangladesh top order did not have much trouble. The openers Tamim Iqbal and Soumya Sarkar added 95 runs for the first wicket to set the tone for their team. This momentum was carried on by the middle order, led by Shakib Al Hassan who scored 116 runs. He was assisted by other senior players like Mushfiqur Rahim. Bangladesh posted 467 runs on the board at the end of the first innings. The massive lead at the end of the first innings gave the touring party an edge in the second Test of the series. 

Second Innings

The Sri Lankan team had a mammoth task in front of them. The experienced opener Dimuth Karunaratne gave his team a much-needed solid start. However, there was not much perseverance shown by other batters which resulted in a continuous fall of wickets. Karunaratne went on to smash a century and played a crucial part in bringing Sri Lanka back into the contest. The lower-order contributions from Dilruwan Perera and Suranga Lakmal gave Sri Lanka a chance to fight for the result as they scored 319 runs in the second innings. 

To get a win in their 100th Test, Bangladesh had to chase 191 runs which is never an easy task in the subcontinent conditions with the pitch disintegrating and spinners coming into the game in the later part of the match. The visitors had a poor start to their run chase as Soumya Sarkar and Imrul Kayes were dismissed in quick succession. But Tamim Iqbal put his hand up and stitched a vital partnership with Sabbir Rahman. The two added more than 100 runs which reduced the margin for Bangladesh. However, Sri Lanka came back into the fight with Tamim Iqbal and Sabbir Rahman finding themselves in the dugout in no time. But it was too little too late for Sri Lanka as Mushfiqur Rahim carried the team to the target. With this, Bangladesh completed the run chase with four wickets in hand and registered a victory in their historic 100th Test.