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 March 15-19. Pakistan plans to host ICC XI for four T20s Cricket officials in Pakistan are confident of hosting four Twenty20s matches against an international XI at Lahore in September after organizing a trouble-free Pakistan Super League final at the Gaddafi Stadium last Sunday. "ICC 11 will play four T20 matches in Lahore in Sept. Hooray!" PSL chairman Najam Sethi posted on Twitter. Sethi said he has been in touch with England Cricket Board president Giles Clarke, who has congratulated his Pakistani counterpart Shaharyar Khan for successfully staging the PSL final and was reported as saying: "Very well played. We will be there in September." Clarke, who also heads ICC's Task Force for Pakistan, has been working closely with the Pakistan cricket Board for the planned series in September. More than 8,000 police officers and soldiers guarded the surroundings of Gaddafi Stadium and the route both teams took to the stadium on the weekend. Thousands of spectators peacefully cleared the three security checkpoints before taking their seats at 25,000-capacity stadium. Nine foreign players, including West Indies stars Darren Sammy and Marlon Samuels, traveled to Lahore for the final. West Indies great Viv Richards also traveled as mentor of Quetta Gladiators team, who eventually lost the final to Sammy's Peshawar Zalmi. The group stage and previous knock-out matches in the tournament were held in the United Arab Emirates, Pakistan cricket's home-away-from-home in recent years. "To me it was more than just a game," Sammy had said after the final. "The fans here deserve to see their players playing as they haven't seen it for quite a while. "I am glad I came here. Being here felt like playing in St. Lucia, playing in India or anywhere else in the world. And like I said at the toss, today I felt cricket was the winner." Among the elite Test-playing nations, Pakistan has hosted only lowly-ranked Zimbabwe — for a short limited-overs series — in the last eight years since an attack on the Sri Lanka team's bus as it traveled to a match in Lahore in 2009. But PCB officials consider the successful organization of PSL final as the opening to convince other foreign teams to resume playing in Pakistan. Security officials from cricket boards including Australia, England, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and the ICC also visited Pakistan for Sunday's final.
