A player must be well disciplined in order to play Test cricket. Both batsmen and bowlers should have a great deal of patience to succeed in the longer version format. Batsmen must demonstrate a true fighting spirit against the bowling unit for a great outcome. On the other side, bowlers should diversify their bowling to pick up wickets. Bangladesh have played 20 Test matches against Sri Lanka over the last two decades. We have witnessed some excellent individual performances in the matches between these two teams. This article highlights the top five memorable performances in Test cricket between Bangladesh vs Sri Lanka.
Remarkable individual performances in Test between Bangladesh and Sri Lanka
We've seen a lot of game-changing Test performances between Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, but picking the best from the bests is always difficult. Keeping this in mind, we've made a list of some of the most memorable cricket performances. So, without further ado, let’s look at the top five memorable performances in Test cricket between Bangladesh vs Sri Lanka.
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5) Shakib Al Hasan: 5/70 & 1/134; 26 & 96 (SBNCS, Dhaka,2008)
In 2008, Bangladesh hosted Sri Lanka for a two-match Test series. Sri Lanka came close to losing the first match of the series to Bangladesh. However, the Lankans eventually won the match by 108 runs thanks to the responsible bowling of Muttiah Muralitharan and Dhammika Prasad. Shakib Al Hasan showed a great all-round performance in this match. He took five wickets in the first innings to help Sri Lanka all out for 293 runs.
However, the left-hand spinner had to be satisfied with just one wicket in the second innings. In chase of 521 runs to victory, Shakib Al Hasan first put up a 112-run stand with Mohammad Ashraful (101) in the sixth wicket before forming a 109-run partnership with Mushfiqur Rahim (61) in the seventh wicket, which hurled the Lankan campaign into turmoil. The best player of the match Shakib Al Hasan batted brilliantly in the second innings, scoring 96 runs.
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4) Mushfiqur Rahim: 200 (Galle International Stadium, Galle, 2013)
During the Sri Lanka tour in 2013, young Mushfiqur Rahim put in a strong performance in the first Test in Galle. In that match, Mushfiqur Rahim made history by being the first Bangladeshi batsman to score a double century in a Test match. In response to Sri Lanka's 570, Bangladesh scored 638 in the first innings thanks to Mushfiqur Rahim's 200, Mohammad Ashraful's 190, and Nasir Hossain's 100. The match ended in a draw after eight centuries were scored in four innings. This match will go down in Bangladesh cricket history because of Mushfiqur Rahim's record-breaking knock.
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3) RanganaHerath: 5/68 & 7/89 (Premadasa Stadium, Colombo, 2013)
The host, Sri Lanka, were under a lot of pressure heading into the second Test after drawing the first match. Because the Bangladeshi batsmen had been in good form during that series. As a result, RanganaHerath had to carry the most of the burden of defeating the visitors with a comparatively inexperienced Sri Lankan bowling attack. He took 5 wickets in the first innings and also 7 wickets in the second innings. Herath was instrumental in Sri Lanka's 7-wicket victory in the series decider after taking 12 wickets in the match. Sri Lanka eventually clinched the series 1-0 after winning the second Test.
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2) Kumar Sangakkara: 319 & 105 (ZACS, Chattogram, 2014)
The legendary Sri Lankan cricketer, Kumar Sangakkara, scored his only triple century against Bangladesh in Chattogram in 2014. During the Bangladesh tour, Sangakkara scored 319 runs in the first innings of the second match of the two-match Test series. Sri Lanka scored 587 runs in the first innings due to his exceptional performance.
Both teams' batsmen scored multiple hundreds in this match on this batting-friendly pitch. As a result, the match ended in a draw. However, Kumar Sangakkara's knock was superb and one of the best performances in the Test format between Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.
1) Mohammad Ashraful: 26 & 114 (SSCG, Colombo, 2001)
Bangladesh's Mohammad Ashraful scored a century in his debut match in 2001 at the age of just 17. As a result, Ashraful became the youngest player to score a century in Test cricket history. Bangladesh were bowled out for only 90 in the first innings of the Asian Test Championship match against Sri Lanka in Colombo. Bangladesh's campaign was fearful of innings defeat in the match after Sri Lanka declared their first innings on 555. Mohammad Ashraful's record-breaking 114 runs brought joy to Bangladesh cricket fans even though they could not avoid defeat in the end.
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Bottom Line
The above-mentioned performances between Bangladesh and Sri Lanka are among the best in the Test format to date and have deservedly earned a place in the top five most memorable performances in Test cricket between these two sides. Hopefully, the players on both teams will put on even better shows in the forthcoming series.