Sri Lanka strengthened their grip over Bangladesh after a dominant Day 4 outing at Mirpur. Starting off at 282-5, the visitors slammed 506 on the back of big centuries from Angelo Mathews and Dinesh Chandimal. Their 199-run stand ensured the Lankans stretched their lead over the home side by 141 runs.
Opening batsmen Oshada Fernando and captain Dimuth Karunaratne also charted fighting half-centuries while Dhananjaya de Silva piled on the Bangladeshi pain with 58 in the middle order.
Ebadot Hossain and Shakib Al Hasan shared nine wickets between them among the hosts. While Hossain took 4-148 in 38 overs, the legend claimed 5-96 in 40.1 overs. Sri Lanka’s number 11, Asitha Fernando, was the last man to be dismissed via a runout.
The state of affairs went from bad to worse for Bangladesh as they lost as many as four wickets before the close of play. While facing 13 overs, the hosts only managed to wipe off 34 runs from their 141-run deficit. Opening batsman Tamim Iqbal went for a duck, while captain Mominul Haque failed to trouble the scorers.
Bangladesh’s first innings centurions, Mushfiqur Rahim and Litton Das held the fort and ensured no further damage until stumps on Day 4. They survived the remaining 23 balls of the day after the Mominul Haque-led side were reduced to 23-4 at one stage.
The two batsmen will be looking to replicate their first innings success in order to entertain any chances of a draw as an innings defeat looms over them.
The match currently being played at Mirpur is also the decider of the two-match series after the opening Test match ended in a draw.
Brief Scores:
Bangladesh: 365 all out (1st innings)
Mushfiqur Rahim 175*, Liton Das 141;
Kasun Rajitha 5/64, Asitha Fernando 4/93
Sri Lanka: 506 (1st innings)
Angelo Mathews 145*, Dinesh Chandimal 124;
Shakib Al Hasan 5/96, Ebadot Hossain 4/148
Bangladesh: 34-4 (2nd innings)
Mahmudul Hasan Joy 15, Mushfiqur Rahim 14*;
Asitha Fernando 2/12, Kasun Rajitha 1/12
Bangladesh trail by 107 runs