SL vs BAN | 1st Test | Day 1: Mathews' ton sets up Sri Lanka for enormous total

As it happened, Sri Lanka is finally in the news for good, after dominating the better part of the proceedings on the Day 1 of the first Test of the ongoing series against Bangladesh.

Opting to bat first, Sri Lanka took the batting-friendly conditions of Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium, Chattogram, to their advantage. Despite losing their skipper Dimuth Karunaratne early in the innings, the touring side always found themselves ahead of the opposition.

As Karunaratne fell for 9 runs, Oshada Fernando and Kusal Mendis put the act together, with the 'Lankan Lions' pushing hard for the recovery. Fernando and Mendis drove Sri Lanka's way, stitching a handy 43-run partnership, but the former perished at the hands of Nayeem Hasan.

Then Sri Lanka found their ally in the form of experienced Angelo Mathews, while the hosts failed to get past his resistance. In partnership with Mendis, Mathews shielded his team from a collapse, as Sri Lanka are known for it these days.

The duo neutralised Bangladesh's spin ploy. After bringing up his half-century, Mendis fell prey to Taijul Islam but his 54-run knock handed the Lankan Lions a mighty edge, going forward in the day. 

Bangladesh soon added another wicket to their tally, with Shakib Al Hasan coming to the party and removing Dhananjaya de Silva. But it was not the end of the Tigers' misery as Mathews continued to work at the best of his powers.

The veteran kept Bangladesh on the hook and smashed his 12th Test ton in the process. While Mathews continued in his merry way, he was well aided by Dinesh Chandimal, who also finished unbeaten at 34 runs.

With the day coming to an end, Sri Lanka are sitting tall on the saddle, having scored 258 runs at the loss of four wickets.

Brief scores:

Sri Lanka - 258/4

Angelo Mathews 114*, Kusal Mendis 54

Nayeem Hasan 2-71