Colombo Test: Bangladesh staring down barrel of innings defeat

Bangladesh found themselves in deep trouble at stumps on Day 3 of the second Test against Sri Lanka at the Sinhalese Sports Club, ending the day at 115 for 6 in their second innings, still trailing the hosts by 96 runs.

Having conceded a 211-run first-innings lead after Sri Lanka posted a big 458 in reply to Bangladesh's 247, the visitors needed a strong response with the bat.

Instead, they faltered again under pressure.Sri Lankan spinners proved to be too good for the Bangladeshi batters on the Colombo surface that was friendly to the spinners.

Anamul Haque, who has been in a lean patch, showed some early promise with a brisk 19 off 19 balls but was the first to fall, triggering another top-order collapse.

It was a short delivery from Asitha Fernando, and Anamul just pushed it to the short leg for a catch. The batter was early to pull the ball. He completely misjudged the pace.

Shadman Islam followed soon after for 12, and Mominul Haque and skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto also departed quickly despite managing good starts.

Najmul was dismissed by the Sri Lankan captain Dhananjaya de Silva. He did the trick off an arm-ball that Najmul failed to play. Najmul tried to play on backfoot, but could'nt touch the ball with bat, and eventually trapped lbw.

Veteran Mushfiqur Rahim tried to steady the innings with a 53-ball 26, but he too was bowled by Prabath Jayasuriya just before the close.

Mehidy Hasan Miraz was trapped lbw late in the day, leaving Bangladesh six down with only Litton Das (13*) holding firm at the crease.

Earlier, Sri Lanka built on their dominant position thanks to a superb 158 from opener Pathum Nissanka and valuable contributions from Dinesh Chandimal (93) and Kusal Mendis (84).

Bangladesh's bowlers toiled hard on a flat pitch, with Taijul Islam standing out with a five-wicket haul (5 for 131), supported by Nayeem Hasan's three-for.

Bangladesh had won the toss and opted to bat first on Day 1, but their top-order failed to capitalise. Shadman's 46 and some lower-order resistance helped them to 247, but it was always going to be below par on a decent batting track.