De Silva, Kamindu and Fernando push Bangladesh to the brink

Kamindu Mendis (164) and Dhananjaya de Silva (108) produced their respective second tons in the match while Vishwa Fernando (3-13) led a flurry of late strikes with the ball to push Bangladesh closer to a mammoth defeat on day three of the first Test in Sylhet. Set a humongous target of 511, Bangladesh were tottering at 47/5 at stumps on the third day.

Resuming the day at 119/5, Sri Lanka lost nightwatch Fernando with just seven runs added to the overnight score. At 126/6, Bangladesh would have fancied their chances of limiting Sri Lanka’s score to a manageable one. However, just like in the first innings, de Silva and Kamindu got together to produce a rearguard. The pair added 173 runs for the seventh wicket at a brisk rate to flatten Bangladesh’s morale. As the stand developed, the hosts started to lose their discipline with the ball and leaked easy runs. De Silva became the first Sri Lankan captain to produce twin tons in a Test match while Kamindu became the fastest to achieve the feat for the country.

By the time de Silva was dismissed, the lead had inched closer to the 400-run mark. Kamindu ensured that the misery continued to pile on Bangladesh as he added a 67-run stand with Prabath Jayasuriya to stretch the lead past the 500-run mark. It was hard work for all of Bangladesh’s bowlers as they struggled to create the kind of pressure they managed in the first innings. Only Mehidy Hasan Miraz (4-74) managed respectability with disciplined spells.

With a huge target to chase, the hosts would have wanted to get to stumps with minimal loss of wickets. Instead, Fernando set the tone by dislodging Mahmudul Hasan Joy in the first over of the innings to inflict a collapse. He also took the wickets of Shahadat Hossain and Litton Das while Kasun Rajitha and Lahiru Kumara picked up a wicket apiece.

 Brief scores: Sri Lanka 280 and 418 (Kamindu Mendis 164, Dhananjaya de Silva 108; Mehidy Hasan Miraz 4-74) lead  Bangladesh 188 and 47/5 (Vishwa Fernando 3-13) by 464 runs