SYLHET: 12 wickets fell during the enthralling day as Sri Lanka raced to a dominating 211-run lead against hosts Bangladesh in the ongoing first Test here at Sylhet International Cricket Stadium on Saturday.
Bangladesh resumed their first innings at an overnight score of 32/3 and could add 156 runs to their total despite Tajiul Islam’s fighting knock.
The hosts had a dismal start to the day as they lost two more wickets — Mahmudul Hasan Joy and Shahadat Hossain — in quick succession and had consequently slipped to 83/5.
Following the slump, Islam partnered strongly with wicketkeeper batter Litton Das and pulled the home side out of danger.
The pair added 61 runs for the sixth wicket before Lahiru Kumara cleaned up Das to open the floodgates.
The right-handed batter remained a notable contributor for Bangladesh, scoring 25.
Islam followed in his footsteps around five overs later, falling agonizingly short of his well-deserved half-century.
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He remained the top-scorer for Bangladesh with an anchoring 47-run knock, which featured six boundaries.
The disciplined Sri Lanka bowling attack then had to put in hard yards to sweep off Bangladesh’s tail as Shoriful Islam (15) and Khaled Ahmed (22) offered resistance with an adamant 40-run stand for the ninth wicket before both fell victim to Vishwa Fernando.
Sri Lanka, despite having a 92-run advantage, had a shaky start to their second innings as they lost Nishan Madushanka (10) and Kusal Mendis (3) with just 32 runs on the board.
Veteran all-rounder Angelo Mathews partnered with Dinesh Chandimal to anchor the innings briefly before both perished in quick succession, bringing the equation down to 64/4.
Sri Lanka’s batting mainstay Dimuth Karunaratne was then joined by his skipper de Silva in the middle and the duo took Sri Lanka past the 100-run mark before the former perished briefly after amassing his half-century.
Karunaratne remained the notable run-getter for Sri Lanka in the second innings with a 101-ball 52 which featured seven boundaries and a six.
Sri Lanka were 119/5 at stumps on the eventful second day of the first Test with their skipper Dhananjaya de Silva and Vishwa Fernando at the crease.