Sri Lanka close on victory in the second Test
Bangladesh, 268-7 at stumps, still need another 243 runs for win
Prabath Jayasuriya, Lahiru Kumara and Kamindu Mendis each claimed two wickets as Sri Lanka came within grasp of another resounding victory in the second and final Test yesterday. Bangladesh were 268-7 at stumps on the fourth day in Chittagong, still needing 243 runs for an improbable win.
Mehidy Hasan Miraz played an unbeaten knock of 44 to take the game into the fifth day with Taijul Islam accompanying him on 10.
Mominul Haque was the only other batsman to put up a fight, making 50 off 56 balls before he was dismissed by the spinner Jayasuriya in the last over before tea break.
Mominul denied that the team had lacked preparation.
“Playing domestic cricket and international Test matches is very different,” he said.
Shakib Al Hasan and Liton Das put on 61 runs for the fifth wicket after Mominul’s dismissal.Off-spinner Kamundu broke the stand as Nishan Madushka took a brilliant reflex catch at silly point to dismiss Shakib for 36.
Liton got the bottom edge in an attempt for a pull shot off Kumara to depart three overs later for 38.
Kamindu broke another promising partnership of 46 runs between Mehidy and Shahadat Hossain, trapping the latter leg before for 15.
Mahmudul Hasan (24), fellow opener Zakir Hasan (19), and skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto (20) were all sent back cheaply.
Jayasuriya bowled Mahmudul to break the 37-run opening stand.
Zakir gave a catch to Dhananjaya de Silva off Vishwa Fernando at slip, and Lahiru clipped the bail of Najmul’s off-stump.
Sri Lanka coach Chris Silverwood praised Bangladesh’s fighting spirit.
“I think Bangladesh played well today. They put the pressure back on the bowlers, they made life difficult for us,” he said.
“I think we bowled well in patches – there were periods when we could have bowled better,” he added. “I don’t think we quite had the consistency in this innings as we showed in the first innings with the ball, but thankfully our
hard work has put us in a strong position”. Resuming on 102-6, Sri Lanka batted for a little over an hour to add 55 runs to their overnight score before declaring at 157-7.
Sri Lanka, who have never lost a Test series to Bangladesh, thrashed the hosts by 328 runs in the first Test at Sylhet.
SCOREBOARD
Sri Lanka first innings 531 Bangladesh first innings 178 Sri Lanka second innings (102-6 overnight) N. Madushka c Mehidy b Hasan 34 D. Karunaratne b Hasan 4 Kusal Mendis b Khaled 2 A. Mathews b Shakib 56 D. Chandimal c Shahadat b Hasan 9 D. de Silva c Liton b Hasan 1 Kamindu Mendis c Liton b Khaled 9 P. Jayasuriya not out 28 V. Fernando not out 8 E. (b5, lb1) 6 Total (7 wickets decl; 40 overs) 157 Did not bat: A. Fernando, L. Kumara.
Fall of wickets: 1-12 (Karunaratne), 2-15
(Kusal), 3-60 (Madushka), 4-72 (Chandimal), 5-78 (Dhananjaya), 6-89 (Kamindu), 7-132 (Mathews)
Bowling: Khaled 11-2-34-2, Hasan 15-2-65-4, Shakib 10-1-39-1, Taijul 4-0-13-0
Bangladesh second innings
Mahmudul Hasan Joy b Jayasuriya 24 Zakir Hasan c de Silva b V. Fernando 19 Najmul Hossain b Kumara 20 Mominul Haque c Kumara b Jayasuriya 50 Shakib Al Hasan c Madushka b Kamindu 36 Liton Das c Kusal b Kumara 38 Shahadat Hossain lbw b Kamindu 15 Mehidy Hasan Miraz not out 44 Taijul Islam not out 10 Extras (b9, lb1, nb2) 12 Total (7 wickets; 67 overs) 268 To bat: Khaled Ahmed, Hasan Mahmud.
Fall of wickets: 1-37 (Mahmudul), 2-51 (Zakir), 3-94 (Najmul), 4-132 (Mominul), 5-193 (Shakib), 6-197 (Liton), 7-243 (Shahadat)
Bowling: V. Fernando 10-0-39-1, A. Fernando 12-1-52-0, Lahiru 11-2-41-2, Jayasuriya 20-1-79-2 (nb2), De Silva 7-1-25-0, Mendis 7-0-22-2
Toss: Sri Lanka