Sri Lanka's valour forced Bangladesh to settle for a draw as the first Test match between the two teams ended as a stalemate.
Starting the day at 39/2, the Sri Lanka skipper Dimuth Karunaratne and Kusal Mendis ensured that the visitors did not face early hiccups. Karunaratne, in his usual style, churned out hard-fought 52 runs, making sure that the Lankan Lions achieved an away draw.
While Kusal Mendis, surprisingly, threw caution to the wind, smashing a flurry of boundaries in the morning session.
Mendis was outclassed by Taijul Islam, who got past the former's defence and cluttered the off-stump. Then, after scoring 199 runs in the last innings, Angelo Mathews witnessed an unfortunate turn of events as Taijul dismissed him for a duck.
A handy little partnership was developing between Dhananjaya de Silva and Karunaratne. Still, it was supposed to be Taijul's day as the spinner sent the Sri Lanka skipper's hard work down the drain, dismissing him for 52 runs.
Soon after, Bangladesh gave the walking papers to de Silva, with Shakib Al Hasan striking this time around.
With Sri Lanka reeling at 161/6, the game was wide open, only for Bangladesh to close it down. However, Dinesh Chandimal and Niroshan Dickwella foiled the plans as the Mominul Haque-led unit could not seize the opportunity.
On one hand, Chandimal kept on nudging the deliveries in a bid to pass on the time. Dickwella had other ideas in mind and aimed to increase Sri Lanka's lead hurriedly.
The duo recorded an unbeaten 99-run partnership. Chandimal and Dickwella had scored 39 and 61 runs, respectively, before the teams shook hands as a draw was inevitable.
Brief scores:
1st innings
Sri Lanka - 397/10
Angelo Mathews 199, Dinesh Chandimal 66;
Nayeem Hasan 6-105, Shakib Al Hasan 3-60
Bangladesh - 465/10
Tamim Iqbal 133, Mushfiqur Rahim 105;
Kasun Rajitha 4-60, Asitha Fernando 3-72
2nd innings
Sri Lanka - 260/6
Niroshan Dickwella 61*, Dimuth Karunaratne 52;
Taijul Islam 4-82, Shakib Al Hasan 1-58
Match drawn