The pitch will not decide the game, how we play will: Adams

Bangladesh bowling coach Andre Adams asserted that there were no demons on the pitch after the end of Day 1 of the first Test at the Sylhet International Cricket Stadium in Sylhet on Friday. 

Adams underlined that Bangladesh would need to bat better and the eventual result of the match would largely come from how his side responds to situations rather than the influence of the pitch. 

After bowling out the Lankans for 280 in the final session of the day, the hosts lost three wickets and mustered 32 runs in 10 overs at stumps.

"We have to wait and see how we bat. I think they got too many when we had them five down. It is a good surface. There are no demons. There's a bit of bounce and carry. We have to be much better with the bat. It is certainly not a scenario that the deck will decide the game, but how we play," Adams told reporters on Friday.

The Tigers got off to a great start as their pacer reduced Sri Lanka to five down for 57, courtesy of Khaled Ahmed who took out the top three of the Lankans batting order. Shoriful picked up and the hosts managed to run out Angelo Matthews to leave the visitors tottering. Despite the setback, Dhananjaya de Silva and Kamindu Mendis took control of the visitors' plight and dominated proceedings with a 202-run stand, with both batters reaching triple figures. 

It was debutant Nahid Rana who shone in the final session. The right-arm quick bowled with pace and precision after being taken for runs in the previous two sessions. In a five-over burst, he used his abilities to good effect and sent back both Mendis (102) and de Silva (102) in back-to-back overs to get the Tigers back into the game. He also nicked off Prabath Jayasuriya to take his third.

"They were good in parts. There was partnership bowling throughout the day. Rana bowled very well in partnership with Khaled at the start. But then relaxed the pressure aspect. It wasn't until the two spinners came on that we gained control of the scorecard. I thought Rana was outstanding, especially on debut," Adams said.

"He is an accurate bowler. This is a pretty young bowling attack. Shoriful was good in parts. I thought Rana and Khaled bowled well together. We created several chances in the first session, which was exceptional. Especially when you think that there were only ten overs of real pressure with the ball. Some great fielding and good catching. Disappointing that we didn't grab two chances, which really could have spun the Test match. You have control if you take seven wickets at lunch.

"He is talented. He is fast. He bowled almost every ball at 145kph. He has a beautiful action. He is just so raw. He has a lot to learn but he is very talented," he added.