New highs for Mushfiqur and Bangladesh

Bangladesh put forward their best batting display ever in Test cricket as they piled up 638 in their first innings of the Galle Test

S Rajesh

11-Mar-2013

Mohammad Ashraful and Mushfiqur Rahim savour their marathon stand, Sri Lanka v Bangladesh, 1st Test, Day 3, Galle, March 10, 2013

Bangladesh's total of 638 is their highest in Tests, and the first time they topped 600 - their previous best was 556 against West Indies in Mirpur in 2012, in a match they eventually lost by 77 runs. The 196 overs they batted is also their most by far - their next best is 153.3. Their total is the seventh highest by any side against Sri Lanka.

Bangladesh have two new highest individual scores: Mushfiqur Rahim's 200 is the highest, followed by Mohammad Ashraful's 190. The previous best before this Test was Ashraful's unbeaten 158 against India in Chittagong 2004.

Mushfiqur has become only the ninth batsman to score a double-century from the No.6 position in Tests. The previous-best for Bangladesh at No.6 was Shakib Al Hasan's 144 against Pakistan in 2011.

Before Mushfiqur, only seven wicketkeepers had scored double-hundreds in Tests. The highest by a wicketkeeper is Andy Flower's unbeaten 232 against India in 2000. Mushfiqur's double is the highest score by a wicketkeeper against Sri Lanka.

Mushfiqur joins the following batsmen in scoring the first Test double-century for their country: Billy Murdoch (Australia), Tip Foster (England), Aubrey Faulkner (South Africa), Clifford Roach (West Indies), Martin Donnelly (New Zealand), Imtiaz Ahmed (Pakistan), Polly Umrigar (India), Brendon Kuruppu (Sri Lanka), and Dave Houghton (Zimbabwe).

The 267-run partnership between Mushfiqur and Ashraful is the highest for Bangladesh, and only their second double-century stand in Tests. The previous highest was 200, between Junaid Siddique and Tamim Iqbal against India in 2010. Ashraful and Rahim had also added 191 against Sri Lanka in 2007, which is Bangladesh's third best stand in Tests.

Three batsmen scoring centuries in an innings is also a first for Bangladesh. Only once had they scored more than one hundred - against West Indies in 2004 both Habibul Bashar and Mohammad Rafique scored centuries in Bangladesh's first innings.

Nasir Hossain's 100 is the second highest for Bangladesh at the No.7 position, a run short of Mushfiqur's 101 against India in Chittagong in 2010.

Both Rangana Herath and Ajantha Mendis conceded more than 150 runs in Bangladesh's innings, the seventh time this has happened for Sri Lanka's bowlers, and the first such instance for any team against Bangladesh.

Six centuries have been scored in the Test so far, only the 31st instance of six or more hundreds in a Test. It's the third such instance in a Test in Sri Lanka, and the first in almost 16 years.

Mohammad Ashraful Mushfiqur Rahim Nasir Hossain Sri Lanka Bangladesh Sri Lanka vs Bangladesh Bangladesh tour of Sri Lanka

S Rajesh is stats editor of ESPNcricinfo. Follow him on Twitter