Sri Lanka pile on the runs on wicketless day four of first Test against Bangladesh; Dimuth Karunaratne (234no) and Dhananjaya de Silva (154no) take fourth-wicket stand to 322, a record for any wicket in Kandy, as Sri Lanka close on 512-3 in run-fest
Saturday 24 April 2021 13:47, UK
Sri Lanka captain Dimuth Karunaratne completed a maiden Test double ton and shared a record partnership with fellow centurion Dhananjaya de Silva as the hosts progressed to 512-3 against Bangladesh on a wicketless day four of a first Test which seems set to end in a draw.
Karunaratne (234no) turned his 11th Test century into a first double, reaching 200 from 387 balls during an unbroken fourth-wicket stand of 322 with Dhananjaya (154no), a record for any wicket in a Test match in Kandy.
The partnership has surpassed the 258 Australia's Shaun Marsh and Michael Hussey put on against Sri Lanka in September 2011.
Sri Lanka, who began the day on 229-3, added 283 runs across Saturday's play, which was interrupted by bad light.
The hosts now trail Bangladesh by just 29 runs, with the visitors having made 541-7 declared in their first innings after electing to bat.
Bangladesh skipper Mominul Haque (127) and Najmul Hossain Shanto (163) scored tons, while Tamim Iqbal (90), Mushfiqur Rahim (68no) and Liton Das (50) added half-centuries.
Three of the six highest partnerships in Kandy Tests have come in this game, with Shanto putting on 242 with Mominul and 144 with Tamim for Bangladesh, before Karunaratne and Dhananjaya went huge for Sri Lanka.
Over 1,000 runs have been scored in the match for the lost of just 10 wickets.
The two-match Test series concludes at the same venue from Thursday.
