CHITTAGONG (Bangladesh), March 1: Farveez Maharoof and Thilan Samaraweera rescued Sri Lanka with gritty half-centuries on the second day of the first Test against Bangladesh on Wednesday.

Maharoof (72) and Samaraweera (57 not out) dashed Bangladesh’s hopes with a crucial stand to help Sri Lanka reach 313-6 in reply to the home side’s 319.

The pair’s 117-run stand for the sixth wicket was a timely one after the middle order was dented by Bangladesh’s spin attack. They were struggling on 178-5 at one stage.

Maharoof, in the team mainly as a seamer, showed he is no slouch with the bat. He struck 10 fours and a six during his maiden Test fifty before dragging a delivery from paceman Shahadat Hossain onto the stumps.

Samaraweera, who reached his 11th Test half-century with an off-driven four off left-arm paceman Syed Rasel, hit seven fours during his defiant 159-ball knock.

Maharoof and Samaraweera made up for the lack of big scores from the upper order, in which vice-captain Kumar Sangakkara (69) was the only one to sparkle with nine fours in his 108-ball innings.

But he was among the four scalps shared by left-arm spinners Mohammad Rafique and Enamul Haque to put Sri Lanka under pressure.

Rafique had opener Upul Tharanga (42) caught by Mohammad Ashraful at forward short leg in the first session and then captain Mahela Jayawardene (30) lifted the ball straight to Hossain at mid on after lunch.

Enamul then struck twice in the second session as he had Sangakkara caught by Ashraful in close and then trapped Tillekeratne Dilshan (22) lbw.

Earlier, Michael Vandort was dismissed for a duck in the first over when he chased an outswinger from Rasel and was caught by wicket-keeper Khaled Mashud.

Scoreboard

BANGLADESH (1st Innings, overnight 315-9):

Javed Omar c Samaraweera b Malinga 4

Nafees Iqbal b Bandara 34

Habibul Bashar lbw b Bandara 29

Shahriar Nafees b Maharoof 27

M. Ashraful c Tharanga b Murali 136

Khaled Mashud lbw b Murali 6

Alok Kapali c Tharanga b Murali 16

Mohammad Rafique b Malinga 17

Shahadat Hossain c Tharanga b Malinga 13

Syed Rasel b Malinga 1

Enamul Haque Jr not out 3

EXTRAS (B-11, LB-4, W-3, NB-15) 33

TOTAL (all out, 91.5 overs) 319

FALL OF WKTS: 1-4, 2-76, 3-81, 4-146, 5-210, 6-248, 7-293, 8-308, 9-314.

BOWLING: Malinga 16.5-3-57-4 (3nb, 2w); Maharoof 11-3-37-1 (3nb); Fernando 17-4-50-0 (8nb, 1w); Muralitharan 32-8-87-3 (1nb); Bandara 13-0-61–2; Dilshan 2-0-12-0.

SRI LANKA (1st Innings):

M.G. Vandort c Mashud b Rasel 0

W.U. Tharanga c Ashraful b Rafique 42

K.C. Sangakkara c Ashraful b Enamul 69

M. Jayawardene c Shahadat b Rafique 30

T.T. Samaraweera not out 57

T.M. Dilshan lbw b Enamul 22

M.F. Maharoof b Shahadat 72

C.M. Bandara not out 8

EXTRAS (LB-2, NB-11) 13

TOTAL (for six wkts, 86 overs) 313

FALL OF WKTS: 1-0, 2-86, 3-149, 4-149, 5-178, 6-295.

TO BAT: M. Muralitharan, C.R.D. Fernando, S.L. Malinga.

BOWLING (to-date): Syed Rasel 14-1-66-1; Shahadat Hossain 16-1-67-1 (6nb); Mohammad Rafique 28-5-76-2 (1nb); Enamul Haque Jr 24-5-75-2 (4nb); Alok Kapali 1-0-7-0; Mohammad Ashraful 3-0-20-0.—Agencies