Angelo Mathews fell short of his double century by just one run, as Bangladesh made a strong start after Sri Lanka’s first innings ended at 397 on Day II of the first Test.

At stumps on Monday in Chittagong, Bangladesh were 76 without loss with both openers, Mahmudul Hasan (31) and Tamim Iqbal (35), looking solid.

Mathews was on 178 when the day’s final session resumed and took Sri Lanka close to the 400 mark with his knock, having Vishwa Fernando for company as the pair added 47 for the ninth wicket before the latter left the field on being hit by a bouncer.

That partnership between Mathews and Vishwa was important for the Sri Lankans, considering they had slipped to 328 for 8 after Dinesh Chandimal (66), one of the overnight batsmen, departed with the scoreboard reading 319. Sri Lanka had resumed the day on 258 for 4.

Vishwa going out certainly dented Sri Lanka’s prospects of posting a 400-plus total, though No.11 Asitha Fernando hung around for some time. Vishwa, though, did come out to bat after the departure of Asitha and tried their best to keep pushing the team total towards the 400 mark.

(Written with inputs from PTI)