Sri Lanka batting coach Thilan Samaraweera said they are looking to bat as long as possible in their first innings in order to build up a sizeable first innings lead against Bangladesh ahead of the fourth day’s play Saturday at Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Cricket Stadium.
The visiting side posted 504 runs for the loss of just three wickets at stumps on day three in the first Test match, trailing the Tigers by only nine runs.
“We are not thinking about the lead. We want to bat as long as possible. We want to firstly bat till lunch on the fourth day, and then see what happens,” said Samaraweera in the post-day press conference Friday.
“I think full credit goes to the two batters – Dhananjaya [de Silva] and Kusal Mendis – after we lost an early wicket. They put on a 300-run (308) partnership.
“The first two hours is important [Saturday]. We have to keep building partnerships. We have to bat normally because 180 is a lot of overs. We have three quality spinners. After Bangladesh made 513 runs, we told the team that we should keep batting. Those two players set the tone, especially after losing the in-form man from last year,” he added.
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