COLOMBO, Feb 2: Sri Lanka reached 80 without loss at stumps on the opening day of the only cricket test in reply Friday to Afghanistan’s first–innings score of 198, which included a fighting 91 runs from Rahmat Shah.
Dimuth Karunaratne is 42 not out, with Nishan Madushka on 36, as the hosts trail by 118 runs.
Earlier, left-arm seamer Vishwa Fernando rattled the tourists with four wickets and he was well supported by spinner Prabath Jayasuriya and seamer Asitha Fernando who took three wickets each.
Shah eventually missed out on his second test century after Sri Lanka captain Dhananjaya de Silva won the toss and asked Afghanistan to bat first at the Sinhalese Sports Club.
Fast bowler Asitha Fernando had early success with Ibrahim Zadran trapped lbw in the second delivery of the match.
Noor Ali Zadran and Shah added 57 runs for the second wicket before Ali Zadran (31) top-edged Vishwa Fernando for a high running catch to the bowler himself.
Shah and Hashmatullah Shahidi added 52 runs for the third wicket before Shahidi (17) was caught behind by Sadeera Samaawickrama.
Shah fell after adding 45 runs for the fifth wicket with Ikram Alikhil when he was caught behind off Jayasuriya. His 91 runs came off 130 deliveries and included 13 boundaries. It was Shah’s fourth half-century in his eighth test.
Vishwa Fernando finished with 4-51. Asitha Fernando had 3-24 while Jayasuriya took 3-67.
It’s the first test match to be played between the two nations since Afghanistan was admitted as a test-playing nation in 2018.
De Silva leads the test team for the first time after taking over from long-time captain Karunaratne.
Afghanistan handed test caps to Ali Zadran, who has played 51 one-day internationals, Zia ur Rehman, Mohammad Saleem and Naveed Zadran.
Seamer Chamika Gunasekara (0-50) made his test debut for Sri Lanka. (AP)
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