Bangladesh’s fast bowling coach Andre Adams was delighted at his young pace attack as they showed a much-needed discipline to trouble Sri Lanka batters on day one of the two-match series opening cricket test on Friday at Sylhet International Cricket Stadium.

The pace attack comprised with Shoriful Islam, Syed Khaled Ahmed and debutant Nahid Rana picked up seven wickets amongst them to play a vital role in helping the side bundle Sri Lanka out for just 280 runs in its first innings. Bangladesh batters however squandered the chance to establish the dominance further by being reduced to 32-3 at stumps.

Khaled (3-72) ripped through the top order before Rana, whose 3-87 on debut included the wickets of centurions Dhananjaya de Silva and Kamindu Mendis, caused a middle order havoc.

“He (Rana) 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,” Andre Adams said of Rana.

“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 was 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 said.

Thanks to Khaled’s fiery work, Bangladesh reduced Sri Lanka to 57-5 at lunch but de Silva and Kamindu shared 202-run for the sixth wicket partnership to take the baton.

As they appeared set to take the complete stranglehold, Rana dealt double blow, dismissing both of the centurions and eventually denied the visitors a big total.

As Bangladesh were left at 32-2 on day one, Adams think still it is possible to take the lead given the fact that the wicket has no demons.

“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," he added.

Bangladeshi wicketkeeper-batter Mushfiqur Rahim is set to feature for Fortune Barishal in the forthcoming Bangladesh Premier League (BPL).

Mushfiqur had played for Sylhet Strikers in the last edition. His price was fixed at 80 lakhs in the players' draft according to the category. Which means he was in 'A' category.

The top category player will play along with other star players like Tamim Iqbal, Mahmudullah, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, and Khaled Ahmed in Fortune Barishal.

Neymar said he was relishing “new challenges and opportunities in new places” after he joined Saudi Arabia’s Al-Hilal from Paris Saint-Germain on a two-year deal Tuesday, becoming the latest big name lured to the oil-rich Gulf state.

The Brazil forward, 31, ends a six-year stay in the French capital and follows in the footsteps of Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and Sadio Mane in swapping Europe for the Middle East.

“I have achieved a lot in Europe and enjoyed special times, but I have always wanted to be a global player and test myself with new challenges and opportunities in new places,” Neymar said in a statement from the Saudi Pro League.

“I want to write new sporting history, and the Saudi Pro League has tremendous energy and quality players at the moment,” he added.

Neymar was “in negotiations” on Sunday to become the latest football superstar to decamp for Saudi Arabia, leaving Paris Saint-Germain just as Kylian Mbappe was brought back in from the cold by the French champions.

A source close to PSG told AFP that 31-year-old Neymar “no longer figures in the club or manager’s plans” with the Brazilian immediately linked to Al-Hilal in the Gulf kingdom.

Another source in Saudi Arabia said that “direct negotiations” between Neymar’s agents and the Public Investment Fund (PIF) were ongoing.