Galle: A Test that had promised spin, bite and a possible fourth-innings scramble drifted into a draw on Saturday, Sri Lanka finishing 67 for 4 in reply to Bangladesh’s not-out declaration of 227. The placid surface and an untimely rain burst cost both sides any realistic shot at forcing a result.
Bangladesh’s first-innings 495 set the tone. Sri Lanka looked well placed at 377 for 4 but lost their last six wickets for 108 to slip ten runs behind. The deficit felt insignificant yet, psychologically, it mattered. As Angelo Mathews acknowledged, “Once you get 400 in the first innings, it’s really difficult to lose a game.” He added that “it was a tough wicket for the bowlers, to be honest,” a view echoed by Bangladesh’s captain-for-the-match, Najmul Hossain Shanto.
Shanto’s twin hundreds – 148 and an unbeaten 125 – underpinned everything the tourists did. His role was orthodox old-school batting: time in the middle, wait for errors, and, when the pitch still refused to misbehave on day four, keep the door ajar for a win. “The wicket on day five wasn’t as we expected,” he said. “We were batting comfortably even on day four. We wanted to get into a position which allowed us more possibilities of winning, and take losing out of the equation.”
That plan involved quick runs on the final morning, followed by at least 60 overs at Sri Lanka. Instead, heavy showers arrived just after 11 a.m.; the restart came at 2.10 p.m., abridging the contest to 37 overs with the ball. “Rain forced us to change our plans,” Shanto admitted. “I think we were always playing to win the Test… We needed at least 60 to 70 overs [to bowl at Sri Lanka] given the pitch conditions on the fifth day. I am still happy that we took four wickets in the limited time we had with the ball.”
Taijul Islam removed Mathews late on, providing one final twist for the sparse crowd, yet the surface never cracked. Galle is usually a spinner’s ally – dry sea breeze, worn footmarks, the lot – but this particular strip remained more Subcontinental motorway than raging turner. Both teams tried everything: pacers reversing an older ball, spinners varying pace and seam position, close fielders hunting a bat-pad. Nothing stuck for long.
For Sri Lanka, the match extends a run of home Tests where results have leaned on deteriorating pitches. Bangladesh, meanwhile, pocket WTC points and the reassurance their batting line-up can prosper abroad. Shanto’s emerging leadership, coupled with his personal tally of 273 runs here, will encourage supporters still bruised by earlier away defeats.
A draw, then, but a useful one – and another reminder that, in Test cricket, nature and twenty-two yards of turf sometimes call the shots more loudly than either dressing-room.
