Dhananjaya and Kamindu post twin hundreds in Sylhet

Sri Lanka are set to take their first points in the World Test Championship after captain Dhananjaya de Silva and rookie Kamindu Mendis hit twin hundreds in the first Test match against Bangladesh in Sylhet on Monday.

The pair had rescued the side in the first innings sharing a 202-run partnership for the sixth wicket after Sri Lanka were struggling at 57 for five. They again came together with the total on 126 for six in the second innings and the lead just over 200 and added 173 runs shutting Bangladesh out of the game.

Dhananjaya followed up his first innings 102 with 108 runs in the second essay while Kamindu top scored with 164 in the second innings. He had made 102 in the first innings.Sri Lanka scored 418 in their second innings with Kamindu and Kasun Rajitha adding 52 runs for the last wicket.

It is only the ninth occasion a Sri Lankan batter had posted hundreds in each innings in a Test match. It is also only the third occasion in the history of Test match cricket where two players from the same side hit twin hundreds in the same game.

Brothers Ian and Greg Chappell had done in 1974 against New Zealand in Wellington while Misbah-ul-Haq and Azhar Ali had scored hundreds in each innings in 2014 against Australia.

Set a mammoth target of 511, Bangladesh were in all sorts of trouble slumping to 47 for five. Vishwa Fernando, who had picked up four wickets in the first innings, was on the money again picking up three wickets.

Lahiru Kumara and Kasun Rajitha supported him well with a wicket each.Bangladesh face a tall order to take the game to the final day.Sri Lanka owe it big time to the pair of Dhananjaya and Kamindu for bailing the side out in both innings.

The selection of Kamindu was an inspired one. The Richmond College player has scored heavily in domestic cricket but has rarely got a break in the big league.Kamindu had scored a half-century on Test debut against Australia in 2022 but was dumped after that.

It was a good call to draft him into the side and give the wicketkeeping gloves to Kusal Mendis axing Sadeera Samarawickrama. The bold selection has helped Sri Lanka to dig out of tricky situations in both innings and Kamindu, a former Sri Lanka Under-19 skipper, has batted like an experienced campaigner.