SL vs BAN: Najmul Shanto creates history, joins list with multiple twin tons in Tests
Bangladesh skipper, Najmul Hossain Shanto was in fine form with the bat as he went on to score his second century during the opening Test against Sri Lanka at Galle on Saturday, June 21. This made Shanto the first batter from Bangladesh to have scored multiple twin centuries (hundreds in both batting innings). He scored a century in the first innings, racking up 148 runs in the first innings of the match. Coming out to bat on Day 4, Shanto stayed till the end of play, unbeaten on 56. On the final day, he took the game on and played fairly aggressively to give his side a big enough lead to go for the win in the final stretch. SL vs BAN, 1st Test Day 5: Updates Rain played spoilsport in the afternoon, resulting in the loss of four hours of play. Once they were back on the field, Shanto who was on 90 reached the triple-figure milestone, his seventh in the longest format. He went unbeaten on 125 as Bangladesh ended up declaring with a lead of 295 runs. He had previously achieved the feat for the first time against Afghanistan in Mirpur in 2024, scoring 146 and 124 respectively. Overall, he is the 96th batter to have achieved the feat. Among Bangladeshi cricketers, he is also the second man to have scored twin centuries with the first being Mominul Haque during the 2018 Test against Sri Lanka. Among batters to have recorded multiple instances of twin hundreds, he is the 13th to have recorded the feat. He joins legendary names like Rahul Dravid, Sunil Gavaskar, David Warner and many others to have emulated this record. Bangladesh started off their World Test Championship (2025-2027) campaign with a draw after Sri Lanka managed to hold their nerves on the final day. Angelo Mathews, who is playing his final Test, was unable to make an impact as he fell for just 8 runs in the 20th over. But the visitors were fancying their chances considering that they have taking wickets fairly frequently. They have been banking on their go-to spinner, Taijul Islam took three wickets as he got some considerable turn and has been making good use of the conditions at hand. Published By: Amar Panicker Published On: Jun 21, 2025