Sri Lanka’s Kusal Mendis plays a shot during the first day of the second Test cricket match against Bangladesh in Chittagong on March 30, 2024.
| Photo Credit: AFP

A top-order batting blitz brought Sri Lanka to 314-4 and left the tourists firmly in command of the second and final Test against Bangladesh on Saturday.

Kusal Mendis top-scored with 93 in Chittagong while openers Dimuth Karunaratne (86) Nishan Madushka (57) helping power the innings.

Dinesh Chandimal was batting on 34 alongside skipper Dhananjaya de Silva on 15 at stumps.

Bangladesh struggled to make an impact after being put in to bowl, with Sri Lanka batting through the morning session without losing a wicket.

Madushka was run out attempting a double shortly after lunch but Karunaratne and Mendis drove the tourists forward with a 114-run stand.

Hasan sent back Karunaratne, who chopped a delivery into the stumps, before the tea break.

He struck eight fours and a six in his 129-ball innings, surviving a run-out scare on 18 after a mix-up with Madushka while taking a single off Hasan Mahmud.

Shakib Al Hasan denied Mendis his 10th Test century, forcing an edge to Mehidy at second slip.

Hasan picked up his second wicket when Mehidy caught Angelo Mathews (23) from the same spot in the first over after the second new ball.

Chandimal struck two sixes to move past his early shakiness before helping Sri Lanka pass the 300-run mark with a four off Hasan.

Sri Lanka lead the two-match series 1-0 after winning the opening Test by a resounding 328 runs.

Veteran all-rounder Shakib returned for Bangladesh after a long Test absence, and the hosts also handed a debut to Mahmud.

Sri Lanka brought Asitha Fernando in for injured Kasun Rajitha in their only change to the squad from the opening Test.

Bangladesh’s skipper Shakib Al Hasan bowls during the match against South Africa in the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023, at Wankhede Stadium, in Mumbai on October 24.
| Photo Credit: ANI

Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan was booed by fans Thursday as he left Dhaka’s Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium after a training session on a break from the Cricket World Cup back home.

Shakib returned home on Wednesday to work with his mentor Nazmul Abedeen to settle batting issues he felt during the ongoing World Cup in neighbouring India.

Video footage seen by AFP showed a group of people jeering Shakib.

The skipper has scored only 56 runs in the four innings he has batted in the tournament, including just one in the 149-run defeat against South Africa in Mumbai on Tuesday.

He had two sessions with Nazmul in successive days before he was expected to rejoin the squad in Kolkata ahead of Bangladesh’s next match against the Netherlands.

“Some fans present in Mirpur started booing Shakib as he was getting into his car,” said reporter Maidul Islam, who witnessed the event.

“It is unprecedented… I have not heard of anyone doing this to a cricketer in Bangladesh.”

Bangladesh have won just one of their five matches they played so far.

They were at the bottom of the table after the defeat against South Africa, the side’s second biggest ever defeat in a World Cup match.

The defeat took them to the bottom of the table before Australia’s thrashing of the Netherlands and England’s defeat to Sri Lanka in the next two matches improved their position.

Shakib was at the peak of his form in the previous World Cup in England in 2019, when he made 606 runs and claimed 11 wickets.