CHITTAGONG (Bangladesh), Jan 2: Bangladesh hope to continue the promise they showed in the first Test against Sri Lanka when the second match starts here on Saturday.

The hosts gave the formidable Sri Lankans a fright in the Dhaka Test when chasing an improbable target of 521, scoring a creditable 413 before falling 107 runs short.

Skipper Mohammad Ashraful’s 101 and Shakib Al Hasan’s 96 on a wearing wicket helped Bangladesh record the 11th-best fourth-innings total by any team in the history of the game.

Sri Lanka won the Test for a 1-0 lead in the two-match series due to spin wizard Muttiah Muralitharan’s 10-190 — his 22nd haul of 10 or more wickets in a match.

Ashraful was confident of another good showing by his under-rated nation, which has lost 51 of its 58 Tests so far, with six draws and a lone victory against lowly Zimbabwe.

“This is the first match of the new year and we want to play good cricket and start afresh on a positive note,” he said.

Sri Lankan captain Mahela Jayawardene, who hit a match-winning 166 at Dhaka, goes into his 100th Test match needing just 74 runs to cross the 8,000-run milestone.

“There is no pressure on me because of these records,” stated the 31-year-old, who is already Sri Lanka’s highest run scorer in Tests. “I am just proud to have played for my country for so long. We are focused on beating Bangladesh here and win the series 2-0. They played very well in Dhaka and I expect they will fight hard here as well.”

The Test series will be followed by a triangular one-day tournament in Dhaka from Jan 10 with Zimbabwe as the third team.

Teams:

SRI LANKA (from): Mahela Jayawardene (captain), Malinda Warnapura, Michael Vandort, Kumar Sangakkara, Thilan Samaraweera, Tillekeratne Dilshan, Prasanna Jayawardene, Chaminda Vaas, Muttiah Muralitharan, Rangana Herath, Dammika Prasad, Chamara Kapugedera, Farveez Maharoof, Dilhara Fernando, Thilan Thushara, Ajantha Mendis.

BANGLADESH (from): Mohammad Ashraful (captain), Mashrafe Mortaza, Tamim Iqbal, Junaid Siddique, Imrul Kayes, Raqibul Hasan, Mehrab Hossain Jr, Shakib Al Hasan, Rajin Saleh, Mushfiqur Rahim, Shahadat Hossain, Enamul Haque, Mahbubul Alam, Sajidul Islam.

Umpires: Steve Bucknor (West Indies) and Nigel Llong (England).

Match referee: Jeff Crowe (New Zealand).—AFP