Sri Lanka-Bangladesh test ends in draw

Sri Lanka declared their second innings on 335 for four Tuesday, setting Bangladesh a target of 268 in 37 overs as early tea was taken on the final day of the first test.
Sri Lanka-Bangladesh test ends in draw

The first test between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh ended in a draw Tuesday after a high-scoring five days that included eight centuries.

Bangladesh was set a daunting target of 268 runs in 37 overs to win, but they opted for a draw reaching 70 for one when the captains decided to call off the game early.

The result was a moral victory for the tourists who had lost all 12 previous tests to Sri Lanka. It was only Bangladesh's eighth draw in 76 tests.

The game also produced the highest match aggregate for a test in Sri Lanka, with 1,613 runs scored. The previous mark was 1,489 in the 1997 draw between Sri Lanka and India at R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo, where the second test will be played.

The flat pitch produced eight centuries, equaling the record set for most hundreds in a test.

The fifth day saw Kumar Sangakkara and Tillakaratne Dilshan involved in a record partnership, and both batsmen went on to score centuries.

Sangakkara established a new record for most centuries by a Sri Lankan when he posted his 32nd in the morning session, backing up his 142 in the first innings. He became the fifth Sri Lankan to score centuries in both innings of a test match after Duleep Mendis, Asanka Gurusinghe, Aravinda de Silva and Dilshan.

Sangakkara was playing his first game of cricket since fracturing his left index finger during the Boxing Day test in Melbourne last year.

Mahmudullah provided the breakthrough after lunch when Sangakkara was spectacularly caught at short mid-wicket to end a 230-run stand, a record between the countries for the second wicket. The previous best was the 172-run stand between Michael Van Dort and Naveed Nawaz in 2002 at SSC.

Mahmudullah finished with three wickets.

Mushfiqur Rahim, who became the first Bangladeshi to score a double hundred in test cricket, was named Man of the Match.

The second test begins on Saturday at R. Premadasa Stadium.

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