Bangladesh opener Tamim Iqbal opened up after lunch on the opening day of their two-day practice match against Sri Lanka Board President’s XI at the Moratuwa Stadium today to hit a blistering century as the Tigers reached the tea interval comfortably placed on 264 for three.
Tamim was not out on 136 off 182 balls at tea, with Shakib Al Hasan keeping him company with an unbeaten 10.
Tamim and Mominul Haque put on 143 runs for the second wicket after opener Soumya Sarkar departed for nine in the morning session. Mominul struck a fluent unbeaten 73 off 103 balls with 10 fours.
Mominul retired on 73 and skipper Mushfiqur Rahim, batting at number four instead of number six and perhaps hinting at a promotion up the order for the first Test, scored 21 before being bowled by Chamika Karunaratne.
Before that, Tamim reached lunch on a sedate 38 off 93 balls with four boundaries, but opened up thereafter as he scored a further 98 off 89 balls and added five more boundaries and seven sixes. He retired during the tea interval.
Earlier, Tamim and Soumya opened the innings after President’s XI captain Dinesh Chandimal won the toss and elected to field. Bangladesh lost young Souyma for nine after an opening stand of 29 runs. It was certainly a disappointing start for Soumya, who has been preferred ahead of regular opener Imrul Kayes.
Skipper Mushfiqur Rahim, who has agreed not to don the wicket-keeping gloves in the two-Test series, is also playing the game along with all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan.
The first Test will start on March 7 while the second, which will be Bangladesh’s landmark 100th Test, will commence on March 15.
Source: The Daily Star
