In response to Sri Lanka's 531 runs in the Chattogram Test, Bangladesh were bowled out for just 178 runs. Despite this, the Lankans went into bat again without sending Bangladesh to follow on. Why Sri Lanka missed the opportunity to defeat the hosts by an innings, was revealed at the end of the match.

According to bowling coach Darshana Gamage, Sri Lanka began batting themselves to give their bowlers a break rather than sending Bangladesh to bat again. The bowlers can withstand the pressure if Bangladesh bats for an extended period of time.

Gamage said, “The main thing was to give the bowlers a bit of a break cos we have two more days of cricket. That way they can be even more effective in the second innings.”

Gamage is quite happy with the way the pacers are performing in the heat of Chattogram. He praised not only his bowlers but also the pacers of Bangladesh.

“If you take the bowlers from both teams, they bowled really well. They just kept in the right areas over a long period of time,” Gamage added.

“In Test cricket we always plan around keeping our discipline. Before even planning for the batters, we focused on keeping discipline in the bowling, how to set a field and bowl according to that consistently. If you look at both these Tests, the seamers adapted to their tasks quickly. Before coming into the game also, much of the preparation centred around working within a disciplined framework.”