AFP: Kusal Mendis made the most of a first-ball reprieve and went on to score an unbeaten century Tuesday as Sri Lanka posted a commanding 321-4 in the first Test against Bangladesh.

Mendis remained unbeaten on 166 at stumps after sharing a 196-run stand with Asela Gunaratne (85) for the fourth wicket at Galle International Stadium on the opening day of the two-Test series.

Bangladesh pace bowler Subashis Roy thought he had Mendis out for a golden duck when wicketkeeper Liton Das dived to his right to take a catch off an inside edge.

But a TV replay showed the bowler had overstepped, prompting the umpires to declare a no ball and enable the 22-year-old Mendis to go on to compile his second Test century.

Mendis reached three figures with a straight four off Soumya Sarkar in a 242-ball innings that has so far featured 18 fours and two sixes.

Mendis and Gunaratne’s massive partnership put the hosts firmly in control of the match by close of play after they were 92-3 at one stage.

Gunaratne, who replaced injured regular skipper Angelo Mathews in the starting lineup, hit seven fours in his second half-century in three Tests before he was bowled by Taskin Ahmed.   The pair came together after the injury-plagued fast bowler Mustafizur Rahman, playing his first Test since August 2015, removed Dinesh Chandimal.

Chandimal managed to score just five runs despite facing 54 balls before edging a catch to Mehedi Hasan at gully.

Bangladesh started the day in positive fashion after stand-in Sri Lanka skipper Rangana Herath won the toss and asked them to bowl first on a flat pitch.

The visitors struck in the sixth over when Roy beat opener Upul Tharanga with a perfect inswinger to uproot his middle stump before the no-ball denied him Mendis’s wicket off the next ball.

Mendis and Karunaratne put on 45 for the second wicket before Bangladesh’s 19-year-old spinner Mehedi struck, bowling Karunaratne through the gate.

Bangladesh omitted left-arm spinner Taijul Islam from their side after the selectors opted for a three-man pace attack.

Liton was keeping wicket for the tourists after captain Mushfiqur Rahim, wanting to concentrate on his batting, handed him the gloves.

The hosts went in with three spinners, meaning all-rounder Dhananjaya de Silva missed out after playing the last Test during Sri Lanka’s recent tour of South Africa.

The second Test, which will be Bangladesh’s 100th, will be in Colombo from 15-19 March.

Scoreboard

Scoreboard at stumps on the first day of the first Test between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh at Galle International Stadium in Galle, Sri Lanka on Tuesday:

Sri Lanka 1st innings

D. Karunaratne b Mehedi     30

U. Tharanga b Roy    4

K. Mendis not out    166

D. Chandimal c Mehedi b Mustafizur    5

A. Gunaratne b Taskin    85

N. Dickwella not out    14

Extras (b9, w3, nb 5)     17

Total (four wickets; 88 overs)    321

Fall of wickets: 1-15 (Tharanga), 2-60 (Karunaratne), 3-92 (Chandimal), 4-288 (Gunaratne)

To bat: D. Perera, R. Herath, S. Lakmal, L. Kumara, L. Sandakan

Bowling: Mustafizur 15-3-50-1(nb1), Taskin 16-3-48-1(nb2, w2), Roy 16-3-58-1 (nb2), Mehedi 12-0-66-1, Shakib 24-3-71-0, Soumya 3-0-9-0 (w1), Mahmudullah 2-0-10-0

Mendis aiming 'to be among world's best'

Espncricinfo: Kusal Mendis said the prospect of raising his average from the low 30s, and the goal of being among the world's best batsmen, provided motivation to hit a big score on the first day in Galle.

Like many in the Sri Lanka top order, Mendis endured an awful tour of South Africa in which he struck only one Test fifty and averaged 23.00 across six innings. That series was preceded by a lean run in Zimbabwe, where he averaged 19.75.

His first Test knock at home in six months brought more luck. He edged his first ball to the wicketkeeper but was reprieved when the bowler was shown to have overstepped on review. From there, he played a largely chanceless innings and, thanks to being 166 not out at the close, his average has risen to 37.70. It will not drop below 35 even if he gets out first ball on day two.

"When I played Australia at home, I had an average of about 42, but then it deteriorated little by little," Mendis said. "People told me it's hard to push it back above 30 if it goes below that. After I failed in South Africa, I wanted to get it back above 35, and you need a big innings to do that. People told me that when you get set, make sure you hit a big innings. I want to be among the best ten batsmen in the world, and to get my average to 40 or 45 eventually."

The return to form was not down to a specific technical change, Mendis said, though perhaps the early reprieve did help. In previous innings, Mendis has been out driving loosely, but following that first shot, he was largely watchful through the first session. Only later in the day did he adopt the positive approach that is more familiar to his game.

"I practised hard after Zimbabwe and South Africa," he said. "The coaches, senior players and captains all told me that I can handle this level - they didn't put much pressure on me despite my failures. I corrected my backlift a bit after watching previous videos, but there weren't any major changes. Those little things I tried to change.

"I must have played a bad shot to get out first ball, but I was keen to stay there for the team after that."

Mendis's 196-run partnership with Asela Gunaratne was instrumental to Sri Lanka's strong position in the match. The two had come together with the score on 92 for 3, and batted with freedom over 43 overs to transform the game's outlook.

"Asela's in really good form after doing well in the Australia series. I had a feeling he'd get a good score, given the way he was playing. When he was at the other end, it became easier for me as well. At one time, he batted well at the other end and took the pressure off me when I was feeling a bit tired. Unfortunately he got out towards the end of the day. It was easy to bat with him."

While Galle can often be a spin-bowling paradise, so far this surface has been as lifeless as any seen at the venue over the past three years. The previous Test here, against Australia, ended in two-and-a-half days, though Mendis was also impressive in that game, top-scoring with 86.

"Last year when we played Australia here, the ball really turned," Mendis said. "This time it's easier for the batsmen, and it won't be a big difference tomorrow - maybe late in the day the ball will spin a bit more. The wicket does seem hard though, so it's hard to predict what will happen."