THIRIMANNE, KARUNARATNE HIT TONS TO PUT HOSTS ON TOP

Sri Lanka skipper Dimuth Karunaratne (118) and Lahiru Thirimanne (131*) both scored centuries as the hosts dominated all three sessions on day one of the second Test against Bangladesh here on Thursday.

An unbroken 82-run second-wicket stand between Thirimanne and Oshada Fernando took Sri Lanka to 291/1 at the end of the opening day’s play. Shoriful Islam was the lone man from Bangladesh who gave visitors something to cheer about as Sri Lanka batsmen enjoyed another day of run-fest on Thursday. Opting to bat first, Sri Lanka got off to a steady start as opening batsmen Karunaratne and Thirimanne batted through the first session. Sri Lanka went to lunch at 66/0 with both batsmen well set, forming a solid base for the innings ahead. In the second session, Karunaratne and Thirimanne took Sri Lanka over the 100-run mark without losing wickets, with both batsmen reaching their respective fifties.

The duo continued their dream run and piled further misery as Sri Lanka reached 188 for the loss of no wicket before tea. Meanwhile, Thirimanne surpassed the 2,000 Test runs and Karunaratne scored another century as the openers put Sri Lanka in full control.

In the third session, Shoriful broke the opening stand of 209 in the 64th over as he dismissed Karunaratne. However, Thirimanne continued scoring runs and brought up his third Test century, also his second of the year. Bangladesh was not able to make any further inroads as Sri Lanka ended day one of the second Test on 291/1.

During the game, Karunaratne also became the 10th Lankan batsman to score 5,000 runs in the longest format of the game. He is also the fourth fastest Sri Lanka cricketer to reach 5,000 Test runs in terms of matches played.

Karunaratne scored his 5,000th run in his 72nd Test and 138th innings. Former Sri Lanka skipper Kumar Sangakkara is still the highest run-scorer for the country with 12,400 Test runs under his belt.