Sri Lanka will have a strong chance of winning their first Test match against Bangladesh after another dominating performance on day four in Chittagong.
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The visitors posted 713/9 declared and had the home team reeling at 81 for 3 in their second innings before stumps were drawn on Saturday.
Bangladesh, after a strong start to the Test with 513 on the board in their first innings, are staring at the prospect of a defeat and going down 0-1 in the two-match series as they will have to battle hard on day five (tomorrow) with 119 runs trailing.
Read : Roshen & Chandimal take Sri Lanka towards first innings lead
Sri Lanka’s gigantic batting effort earned them a 200-run first innings lead and in reply, Bangladesh made a fine start to their innings with openers Tamim Iqbal and Imrul Kayes adding 51 for the opening stand but the Sri Lankan spin trio, Dilruwan Perera, Lakshan Sandakan and Rangana Herath found some turn on a pitch which was starting to crack.
Kayes was the first to go when he lobbed one straight up to Dinesh Chandimal at square leg for an easy catch after having not got on top of the bounce off Dilruwan. Tamim then got an outside edge off Lakshan Sandakan in his first over while Herath claimed the prized wicket of Mushfiqur Rahim whose catch was picked out by Kusal Mendis at silly mid-off, which came off his boot.
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Earlier, Sri Lanka’s batsmen continued to pile on the runs on the Chittagong wicket that turned out to be a good batting surface, but one in which the slowness remained.
Having resumed the day on 504 for 3, Roshen Silva, in just his second Test, showcased maturity and the temperament for Test cricket and scored his maiden Test ton while skipper Dinesh Chandimal missed out after being castled for 87 in the first over after Lunch, having had added 135 runs with Silva earlier before the third centurion fell for 109.
Silva’s departure brought the dynamic Niroshan Dickwella who came in at number 6 and stroked a valuable half-century off just 47 balls before departing on 62 off Mehedi Hasan who earlier dismissed Silva as well.
Dilruwan Perera made 32 while the tail ensured Sri Lanka reach a lead of 200 before declaring their innings.
