Mominul Haque hit a dazzling unbeaten ton saw Bangladesh dominated the first day as they scored 374 for 4 at stumps against visiting Sri Lankan in the first Test of the two-match Test series at Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chittagong on Wednesday.
Mominul, who scored the second-fastest Test century by a Bangladeshi batsman, played a classy knock of 175 off 203 balls laced with 16 boundaries and one over boundary and also shared 236-run third wicket stand with Mushfiqur Rahim, after Bangladesh lost two quick wickets, BSS reported.
The stand-in captain Mahmudullah Riyad elected to bat first after winning the toss in a wicket which looked a batting paradise in the first day. Local boy Tamim Iqbal and Imrul Kayes started aggressively.
Tamim needed only 47 balls to score his 50 but he couldn't make his innings bigger as he was departed the dressing room for 52 runs off 53 balls that studded with flurry of boundaries and one over boundary.
The southpaw batsman Mominul came into the crease when Tamim Iqbal fell in the 16th over. Mominul's approach was positive in the beginning and raced to his half-century from 59 balls.
Before the end of first session, Kayes (40) was also sent back to the pavilion and he could have saved himself if he would have taken a review. Then the show of Mushfiqur Rahim and Mominul Haque began.
Mominul's aggressive approach gave a tremendous setback to the Islanders and started to make their day worse when he became set and started playing shots with flurry of boundaries in all square of the ground.
He accelerated harder and got his fifth Test hundred in 96 balls before the tea break. He came down the wicket and hit Lakshan Sandakan for a boundary to bring up his ton.
After three years, Mominul scored a 100 and he did it in style. He became the second fastest Bangladeshi to score a Test 100. He also scored four Test centuries out of his five Test 100s in Chittagong.
Dominative wicket keeper Mushfiqur gave him an ample support scoring 92 runs. At one stage it was seemed he would score his sixth Test 100 but unluckily he fall victim of nervous 90 off Suranga Lakmal delivery. In the very next ball, Liton Das also followed the footprint of Mushfiq without disturbing the score board.
But Mominul stayed till the end and made sure that the day belongs to Bangladesh and he is now just 25 runs away from scoring his first ever double 100 in international cricket. Skipper Mahmudullah was the other batsman to remain unbeaten on the crease as the stumps were drawn for the day.
Suranga Lakmal bagged two wickets conceding 43 runs while Lakshan Sandakan and Dilruwan Perera shared one wicket each.
Brief score:
Bangladesh first innings - 374 for 4 in 90 overs, Mominul 175 (batting), Mushfiqur 92, Tamim 52, Imrul 40, Mahmudullah 9 (batting), Lakmal 2/43, Sandakan 1/58 and Perera 1/98.