Bangladesh begin tough chase after Tharanga ton

(Reuters) - Sri Lanka opener Upul Tharanga struck his third test century to help his team set Bangladesh a mammoth 457-run victory target on the penultimate day of the first test yesterday.

Tharanga made 115 and Dinesh Chandimal scored 50 not out before Sri Lanka, who had taken a 182-run first-innings lead, declared their second on 274 for six at the Galle International Stadium.

Bangladesh were 67 for no loss when bad light forced an early close with the tourists still needing 390 runs for an improbable win at a ground where no team has scored more than 300 in the fourth innings.

Soumya Sarkar was unbeaten on 53, his second half-century of the match, with Tamim Iqbal on 13 when play was called off.

Sri Lanka scored briskly after lunch, milking 160 runs in the Sri Lanka 1st innings 494 (K. Mendis 194, A. Gunaratne 85, N. Dickwella 75, D. Perera 51; M. Hasan 4-113) Bangladesh 1st innings 312 (M. Rahim 85, S. Sarkar 71, T. Iqbal 57) Sri Lanka 2nd innings D. Karunaratne c Mahmudullah b Ahmed 32 U. Tharanga b M. Hasan 115 K. Mendis c Ahmed b Al Hasan 19 D. Chandimal not out 50 A. Gunaratne b Al Hasan 0 N. Dickwella c Das b M. Hasan 15 D. Perera c Das b M. Rahman 33 Extras (b-2 lb-1 nb-1 w-6) 10 Total (for 6 wickets declared, 69 overs) 274 Fall of wickets: 1-69 D. Karunaratne,2-134 K. Mendis,3-198 U. Tharanga,4-199 A. Gunaratne,5-222 N. Dickwella,6-274 D. Perera Did not bat: R. Herath, S. Lakmal, L. Kumara, L. Sandakan Bowling S. Roy 7 - 0 - 34 - 0(w-5) M. Hasan 20 - 1 - 77 - 2 M. Rahman 9 - 4 - 24 - 1 S. Al Hasan 25 - 2 - 104 - 2 T. Ahmed 8 - 0 - 32 - 1(nb-1 w1) Bangladesh 2nd innings (Target: 457 runs) T. Iqbal not out S. Sarkar not out Extras (nb-1) 1 Total (for no loss, 15 overs) Fall of wickets: To bat: M. Haque, Mahmudullah, M. Rahim, S. Al Hasan, L. Das, M. Hasan, T. Ahmed, M. Rahman, S. Roy Bowling S. Lakmal 6 - 3 - 8 - 0 D. Perera 5 - 0 - 24 - 0 R. Herath 4 0 - 32 - 0 A. Gunaratne 0 - 0 - 3 - 0 Referees Umpire: Aleem Dar Umpire: Marais Erasmus TV umpire: Sundaram Ravi Match referee: Andy Pycroft 13 53 67