New Delhi: Sri Lanka were on the cusp of victory on the third day of the second Test match against Bangladesh requiring just four more wickets to win. Closing in on a dominant win, the hosts restricted the visiting side for 115/6 with a 96-run lead in hand in Colombo and just four more scalps to clear.
Bangladesh conceded 211-run first innings lead to Sri Lanka, that was dismissed for 458 runs in the first innings. The visiting side made 247 runs in the first innings after winning the toss on the opening day. Batters spoiled the show for the Bangladesh side after they crumbled against the bowling attack of the Lankans which seemed to be clinical on Friday.
Anamul Haque (19), Shadman Islam (12), Mominul Haque (15), skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto (26), Mushfiqur Rahim (26) and Mehedy Hasan Miraz (11) were all dismissed before they could take a start in their second innings and take Bangladesh ahead. Litton Das, who is considered to be helpful hand in such tough and tricky situations, was batting on 13 runs off 39 balls after Hasan Miraz was dismissed on the final delivery of the day.
For Sri Lanka, skipper Dhananjaya de Silva (2/13) and left-arm spinner Prabath Jayasuriya (2/47) shared the bowling honors. Earlier,
Earlier, opening batter Pathum Nissanka scored more than 150 runs for a second consecutive test match and Kusal Mendis scored a quick 84 off 87 deliveries to extend Sri Lanka’s lead after Bangladesh threatened to claw back into the match taking four wickets in the first session.
Resuming the third day at 290 for 2 with Nissanka unbeaten on 146 batting and night watchman Jayasuriya, the Lankans reached 401 for 6 at the lunch break. Nissanka followed his 187 in the first test in Galle with a brilliant 158 which included 19 boundaries off 254 deliveries in an innings lasting more than six hours.
