The firm defiance of Ashen Bandara assisted by a few showers on day 3 & 4, finally proved to be enough for Sri Lanka Emerging team (SL-E) to pull off a draw in the first unofficial Test match in the 2-match 4-day series vs Bangladesh Emerging team (Ban-E) at the Sheikh Abu Naser Stadium, Khulna.
SL-E started their day on 190-6 with 20-year-old Ashen Bandara and fast bowling all-rounder Chamika Karunaratne in the middle, chasing a huge first innings score of 360 which was set by Ban-E led by their skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto’s brilliant century.
Read: Ashen Bandara remains solid on rain-hit day
With a win out of the question, the draw was SL-E’s only option and the Bandara-Karunaratne duo continued their blockage from day 03. But before too long, Karunaratne who made an uncharacteristic 51-ball 8 had to depart when his stumps were disturbed by Nayeem Hasan’s off spin.
Hasan who has already played 2 Tests for Bangladesh, went on to dismiss most of rest of SL-E’s batting line up, adding another 3 to his day 2 wicket tally, ending up with a 7-wicket haul.
Ashen Bandara who stood firm with his rock-solid defense, was caught by Shanto off Shafiqul Islam’s bowling on 85 as the last wicket of SL-E innings. SL-E were bundled for 244, giving a 116-run advantage for home team.
The Ban-E 2nd innings began in a very slow-paced manner and continued it that way for 43 overs before the rain interrupted again for the 3rd consecutive day. The umpires finally called it a day as the captains, Charith Asalanka and Najmul Hossain Shanto shook hands for a draw in the first unofficial test of the 2 match series.
The Ban-E 2nd innings was dominated by Nishan Peiris who snatched 3 scalps out of 4 wickets to fall. The second and final 4-day unofficial Test match of the series which will be the series decider will be held on 3rd September at Sheikh Kamal International Cricket Stadium, Cox’s Bazar.
Result
| Batsmen | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saif Hassan | run out (Kalana Perera) | 18 | 94 | 3 | 0 | 19.15 |
| Mohammad Naim | c Minod Bhanuka b Kalana Perera | 9 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 112.50 |
| Najmul Hossain Shanto | lbw b Kalana Perera | 133 | 269 | 13 | 1 | 49.44 |
| Yasir Ali | c Pathum Nissanka b Ramesh Mendis | 4 | 30 | 0 | 0 | 13.33 |
| Afif Hossain | b Nishan Peiris | 54 | 108 | 1 | 0 | 50.00 |
| Zakir Hasan | c Pathum Nissanka b Ramesh Mendis | 49 | 128 | 4 | 0 | 38.28 |
| Mahidul Islam Ankon | c & b Asitha Fernando | 4 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 33.33 |
| Nayeem Hasan | c Sangeeth Cooray b Asitha Fernando | 36 | 72 | 4 | 0 | 50.00 |
| Yeasin Arafat | c & b Ramesh Mendis | 12 | 45 | 1 | 0 | 26.67 |
| Tanvir Islam | not out | 16 | 43 | 1 | 0 | 37.21 |
| Shafiqul Islam | b Ramesh Mendis | 1 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 10.00 |
| Extras | 24 (b 6 , lb 14 , nb 4, w 0, pen 0) |
| Total | 360/10 (135.4 Overs, RR: 2.65) |
| Fall of Wickets | 1-12 (3.1) Mohammad Naim, 2-81 (31.4) Saif Hassan, 3-95 (41.2) Yasir Ali, 4-194 (72.6) Afif Hossain, 5-249 (93.4) Najmul Hossain Shanto, 6-262 (98.6) Mahidul Islam Ankon, 7-320 (117.5) Zakir Hasan, 8-326 (120.6) Nayeem Hasan, 9-348 (131.6) Yeasin Arafat, 10-360 (135.4) Shafiqul Islam, |
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Asitha Fernando | 25 | 3 | 74 | 2 | 2.96 | |
| Kalana Perera | 27 | 8 | 62 | 2 | 2.30 | |
| Chamika Karunarathne | 25 | 4 | 55 | 0 | 2.20 | |
| Nishan Peiris | 30 | 3 | 76 | 1 | 2.53 | |
| Ramesh Mendis | 28.4 | 2 | 73 | 4 | 2.57 | |
| Batsmen | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pathum Nissanka | c Yasir Ali b Nayeem Hasan | 16 | 22 | 3 | 0 | 72.73 |
| Sangeeth Cooray | c Yasir Ali b Nayeem Hasan | 6 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 37.50 |
| Charith Asalanka | c Mohammad Naim b Nayeem Hasan | 18 | 34 | 2 | 0 | 52.94 |
| Minod Bhanuka | c Mahidul Islam Ankon b Nayeem Hasan | 11 | 25 | 2 | 0 | 44.00 |
| Promod Maduwantha | lbw b Tanvir Islam | 40 | 136 | 3 | 0 | 29.41 |
| Ashen Bandara | c Najmul Hossain Shanto b Shafiqul Islam | 85 | 256 | 8 | 0 | 33.20 |
| Ramesh Mendis | c Saif Hassan b Shafiqul Islam | 18 | 44 | 2 | 0 | 40.91 |
| Chamika Karunarathne | b Nayeem Hasan | 8 | 51 | 0 | 0 | 15.69 |
| Kalana Perera | c Mahidul Islam Ankon b Nayeem Hasan | 8 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 133.33 |
| Nishan Peiris | b Nayeem Hasan | 15 | 28 | 3 | 0 | 53.57 |
| Asitha Fernando | not out | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 20.00 |
| Extras | 18 (b 11 , lb 6 , nb 1, w 0, pen 0) |
| Total | 244/10 (103.4 Overs, RR: 2.35) |
| Fall of Wickets | 1-21 (5.3) Pathum Nissanka, 2-26 (7.3) Sangeeth Cooray, 3-52 (15.2) Minod Bhanuka, 4-59 (17.4) Charith Asalanka, 5-141 (59.2) Promod Maduwantha, 6-170 (74.1) Ramesh Mendis, 7-196 (90.6) Chamika Karunarathne, 8-206 (92.6) Kalana Perera, 9-234 (100.4) Nishan Peiris, 10-244 (103.4) Ashen Bandara, |
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yeasin Arafat | 16 | 4 | 28 | 0 | 1.75 | |
| Shafiqul Islam | 23.4 | 6 | 59 | 2 | 2.52 | |
| Nayeem Hasan | 40 | 14 | 93 | 7 | 2.33 | |
| Tanvir Islam | 22 | 7 | 41 | 1 | 1.86 | |
| Afif Hossain | 2 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 3.00 | |
| Batsmen | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saif Hassan | not out | 40 | 113 | 0 | 1 | 35.40 |
| Mohammad Naim | lbw b Nishan Peiris | 8 | 54 | 0 | 0 | 14.81 |
| Najmul Hossain Shanto | b Asitha Fernando | 25 | 38 | 2 | 2 | 65.79 |
| Yasir Ali | b Nishan Peiris | 3 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 27.27 |
| Afif Hossain | c Chamika Karunarathne b Nishan Peiris | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 20.00 |
| Zakir Hasan | not out | 25 | 37 | 3 | 0 | 67.57 |
| Extras | 0 (b 0 , lb 0 , nb 0, w 0, pen 0) |
| Total | 102/4 (43 Overs, RR: 2.37) |
| Fall of Wickets | 1-21 (16.2) Mohammad Naim, 2-48 (27.3) Najmul Hossain Shanto, 3-55 (30.5) Yasir Ali, 4-63 (32.2) Afif Hossain, |
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Asitha Fernando | 7 | 2 | 19 | 1 | 2.71 | |
| Kalana Perera | 7 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0.57 | |
| Chamika Karunarathne | 5 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 1.00 | |
| Ramesh Mendis | 6 | 3 | 18 | 0 | 3.00 | |
| Nishan Peiris | 15 | 4 | 43 | 3 | 2.87 | |
| Charith Asalanka | 3 | 0 | 13 | 0 | 4.33 | |
 to pull off a draw in the first unofficial Test match in the 2-match 4-day series vs Bangladesh Emerging team (Ban-E) at the Sheikh Abu Naser Stadium, Khulna.){kind=link}