Day one of the second Test at the Sinhalese Sports Club finished with Bangladesh a shaky 220 for 8, and, if we’re honest, everybody looked a little puzzled by the pitch. SSC decks are usually either concrete-flat or quick to crumble into turners. This one is neither. It’s stopping, it’s skidding and, every so often, it’s leaping from a length.
“It’s a two-paced wicket, when it usually has even bounce here,” Sri Lanka batting coach Thilina Kandamby admitted. “This is an unusual wicket at SSC because I’ve been playing here for almost 15 years. This is a totally different wicket. With the uneven bounce, even we were surprised by it.”
Shadman Islam, Bangladesh’s makeshift opener and the day’s top-scorer with a grafting 46 from 93 balls, agreed: “I think the wicket was a little bit slow. You cannot score runs without playing shots. We played shots in Galle too where those ended in boundaries. But unfortunately, maybe it was not our day today.”
Four of Bangladesh’s top seven fell trying to force the pace, a reminder that risk-reward calculations change sharply on a surface that can misbehave. Still, Shadman reckons they are in the match. “I think 270 or 280 would be a good first-innings score,” he said, adding that there’s “enough juice” for his own attack once Sri Lanka bat.
Kandamby hinted Sri Lanka had read the strip poorly at first glance. They even flirted with three seamers before ditching the idea in the morning. “It’s very different conditions to Galle,” he noted. “It was more batting-friendly than previous Galle wickets, and Bangladesh batted brilliantly. But here, we planned a few things about how to get them out, and some of those plans worked.”
Those plans mostly involved peppering a good length and letting the inconsistency do the rest. Kasun Rajitha’s nagging seam found edges, while Prabath Jayasinghe—playing because the hosts couldn’t risk another quick—extracted sharp turn. Bangladesh, meanwhile, trusted their defence just long enough for an odd ball to scoot through.
What’s causing the mischief? Grounds staff say a late spell of rain left moisture locked beneath a drying top, creating that dreaded ‘tennis-ball’ bounce. There’s also talk of a slightly grassier middle left unshaved to hold the surface together for five days; right now it’s simply holding the batters back.
Day two shapes up intriguingly. If Bangladesh squeeze 50 more, they’re very much alive. Sri Lanka’s order, fresh from piling runs in Galle, will fancy themselves, but no one really knows how long this pitch will behave—or misbehave. That uncertainty, more than any headline figure, is what both dressing rooms are worrying about tonight.
