Bangladesh closed the opening day of the second Test at 220 for 8 at the Sinhalese Sports Club (SSC) Ground in Colombo. The visitors saw several batters get promising starts, but no one managed to convert them into a big score on a day interrupted by rain and marked by poor shot selection.
Litton Das (23) and Mushfiqur Rahim (30) offered resistance in the middle session, adding 67 runs for the fifth wicket, but both perished after being given lives earlier in their innings.
Debutant Sonal Dinusha, the left-arm spinning allrounder, made an instant impact by dismissing Litton and later removing Mushfiqur with a well-judged catch by Vishwa Fernando at deep square leg. Litton had been dropped twice before eventually edging behind, while Mushfiqur fell to his favourite slog sweep after a composed start.
Mehidy Hasan Miraz (31) looked promising before edging Fernando to slip after adding a 37-run partnership with Nayeem Hasan for the seventh wicket. Bangladesh had hopes of reaching the 250-run mark, but the lower order failed to hold on as Asitha bowled Nayeem after scoring 25 runs in 51 balls.
Earlier in the day, Anamul Haque Bijoy's poor run continued, falling for a duck despite getting an early reprieve. He was bowled by a peach from Asitha Fernando that jagged in sharply.
Mominul Haque (21) played a few stylish shots before gifting his wicket to Dhananjaya de Silva with a loose drive in the covers. His dismissal broke a rebuilding 38-run stand with opener Sadman Islam, who top-scored with 46 but also threw away his wicket chasing a wide delivery from Ratnayake.
Captain Najmul Hossain Shanto, who struck twin hundreds in Galle, couldn't replicate that form, edging behind for just 8 off the bowling of Vishwa Fernando.
Rain arrived shortly before tea, halting Bangladesh’s progress after they had reached 90 for 4. After the break, Litton and Mushfiq put together Bangladesh’s best stand of the day, but their soft dismissals kept Sri Lanka firmly on top.
Sri Lanka made two changes, bringing in Sonal Dinusha and Vishwa Fernando, who both made immediate impact. For Bangladesh, Mehidy Hasan Miraz and Ebadot Hossain returned to the XI, with Nayeem Hasan also retaining his place.
At stumps, Ebadat Hossain batting at 5 alongside Taijul Islam who is unbeaten at 9 as Bangladesh looked to scrape past 250 on day two.
Source: Daily Sun.
Bd-pratidin English/TR
