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A flurry of wickets from off spinner Nayeem Hasan has given Bangladesh a slim lead of 10 runs heading into the second innings of the Galle Test against Sri Lanka.
After a frustrating end to the first session as Kamindu Mendis and Milan Rathnayake stymied the Tigers, Hasan Mahmud (3-74) made the breakthrough.
A short of length delivery outside off stump dipped lower than expected, tempting Milan (39) to chop it onto the stumps, reports bdnews24.com.
Nayeem (5-121) got in on the action in the following over, catching an edge from Kamindu (87) on the way through for wicketkeeper Litton Das’s third catch of the morning.
Only a few balls later, he slipped through Tharindu Rathnayake’s defences to send him back to the pavilion for a duck.
The final two batsmen tried to batter down Bangladesh’s lead, but a missed reverse sweep saw Nayeem spin the ball into the stumps and pick up a five-for.
Bangladesh had started the day with a quick couple of wickets as Nayeem picked off Dhananjaya de Silva and Mahmud scalped Kusal Mendis.
But Kamindu, who has stood firm for Sri Lanka’s rear guard in recent months, kept the game ticking over, eventually taking Sri Lanka to 465-6 at lunch with able support from Milan.
However, their dismissals after lunch meant that Sri Lanka were unable to match the Tigers’ first innings total.
Bangladesh will hope to rack up the runs as quickly as possible, while Sri Lanka will look to topple the innings.
Both sides are aiming to kick off their World Test Championship 2025-2027 campaigns on a positive note.
The Tigers did not win a single match in the first iteration of the Test tournament. In the second they won one match but remained at the bottom of the standings. But in the 2023-25 tournament, Nazmul Hossain Shanto’s side beat New Zealand, Pakistan twice, and the West Indies to claim seventh spot.
Now the Tigers hope to step up their game and claim sixth or higher on the table.
Bangladesh is playing without allrounder Mehidy Hasan Miraz in the starting eleven due to an illness. In his absence, the Tigers are fielding four specialised bowlers.