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Kusal Mendis leads Sri Lanka’s charge with a commanding performance on Day 2, putting the hosts in a strong position.
Sri Lanka’s wicketkeeper-batter Kusal Mendis stated that gaining a lead of 150 to 200 runs would give his team a strong upper hand, especially with spin expected to play a major role during the final two days of the ongoing second Test.
Sri Lanka ended Day 2 with a 43-run lead in the first innings, thanks to an unbeaten 146 from Pathum Nissanka and a solid 93 from Dinesh Chandimal, taking their total to 290/2.
We’re in a strong position, and tomorrow our goal is to bat through the entire day. We’re aiming to build a lead of around 150 to 200 runs. Hopefully, the pitch will start turning over the final two days,” Kusal said after the second day’s play.
We’re aiming to post a big total — something over 400 would be ideal. Hopefully, we can achieve that tomorrow,” he said.
Commenting on the pitch conditions, he added, “The grass has dried up, footmarks are starting to appear, and I expect the surface to offer more turn as the game progresses. We definitely don’t want to be batting in the fourth innings. The plan is to bat deep now and really put them under pressure.
Mendis praised Nissanka for his outstanding batting performance and emphasized the importance of acknowledging the contributions of their pace bowlers, who played a key role in restricting the opposition to under 250 runs.
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Pathum has been an absolute delight to watch. He’s been batting brilliantly, not just in this match but throughout the last series as well, where he consistently scored runs. It was unfortunate that he fell short of a double century in Galle — hopefully, he can reach that milestone here. He’s been our most in-form batter across all three formats. His dedication and hard work are evident every time he steps out to bat.
We had a plan, and the quicks executed it perfectly. They were spot-on with their lengths and lines. On a pitch that lacked pace, that kind of discipline was exactly what we needed — not just with the new ball, but even as it got older. Honestly, that’s the best I’ve seen our fast bowlers perform in Sri Lanka.
We were aware that the pitch would slow down and offer more turn as the match progressed. Credit must go to our fast bowlers—they were exceptional and played a crucial role. As we move into Day Four, I expect the conditions to be quite different from what we’ve seen so far,” he said.
On the other hand, Bangladesh head coach Phil Simmons pointed to his team’s batting struggles, citing a lack of partnerships. He also noted that the pitch had changed significantly in the second innings, making things more difficult for the batters.
Where we fell short was in not building substantial partnerships yesterday. As a result, we came into today with just two or three wickets in hand, putting us on the back foot.
Ultimately, it comes down to our batting—specifically the partnerships we didn’t establish. At least two or three of our batters needed to go on and post big scores. Hopefully, we’ve learned something from the way Nissanka applied himself. In the second innings, we need to step up, dig in, and aim for significant contributions with the bat.
The pitch definitely improved compared to the first day, when it was a bit sticky and had a two-paced nature. Today, it played much better, and we saw how much easier it was for the batters. There wasn’t as much turn as yesterday, and the batters made the most of the conditions. That’s the beauty of Test cricket sometimes,” he added.
