Tigers seize advantage, fumble it away
Bangladesh made an excellent comeback as Taskin Ahmed scalped three wickets carrying out a dismal showing on the first day, but Niroshan Dickwella's run-a-ball 64 in the latter stages of the next day helped hosts Sri Lanka counterattack and end the day on 469 for 6 at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium yesterday.
Dickwella and Ramesh Mendis added a brisk unbeaten 87-run seventh-wicket stand to keep the hosts on top regardless of the visiting bowlers managing to choose wickets at regular intervals on the next day.
Dropped catches and missed opportunities remained an attribute for Bangladesh for the second consecutive day. Najmul Hossain dropped another catch at second slip after Mendis edged a delivery from Taskin, missing the opportunity to break the partnership before bad light forced an early end to the days' play.
Najmul had previously dropped a fairly easy catch at slip off Taskin's bowling on the first day, giving Sri Lankan skipper Dimuth Karunaratne a reprieve on 28 that the left-hander cashed in on by scoring 118.
But it was an excellent start to the day by the Bangladesh bowlers, especially Taskin, who has proven vast improvements on his comeback to the Test format in Sri Lanka. The tall pacer kept things tight alongside pacers Shoriful Islam and Abu Jayed in the first session, when the hosts managed to score just 43 runs at the price of three wickets.
Taskin found his first wicket by getting centurion Lahiru Thirimanne caught down le side for 140. Angelo Matthews survived off Taskin's bowling early on when none of the Bangladeshi fielders heard the ball take the edge, but Taskin managed to dismiss Matthews as Liton Das took a sharp diving catch to his right behind the stumps.
Left-arm spinner Taijul Islam dismissed Dhananjaya de Silva right before lunch, denting the hosts further because they lost three wickets for 15 runs. Oshanda Fernando and Pathum Nissanka then steadied the ship in the post-lunch session, adding 54 runs before Taskin once more brought the visitors back the game.
Nissanka, who also got a lifeline through just one more dropped catch when he was on ten, was bowled for thirty by a sharp incoming Taskin delivery.
At the other end, a good Fernando was eyeing his second Test ton before Liton displayed great occurrence of mind to dismiss him. The wicketkeeper anticipated that the batsman would get a sweep to off-spinner Mehedi Hasan Miraz and caught a catch down the leg side to send the right-hander back again to the pavilion for 81.
The hosts staged an excellent comeback afterwards, riding on Dickwella and Mendis. Both batters accelerated the run rate, with Dickwella especially manufacturing shots and playing all along the bottom to keep carefully the visiting bowlers thinking.
Bangladesh will be seeking to bundle out Sri Lanka early on the third day as the hosts will be eyeing some quick runs to crank up the strain on the Tigers if they come to bat.
