SL vs BAN | Reckless Bangladesh fail to make most of Lankan sloppiness on rain-affected Day 1 in Colombo
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Opting to bowl first, Sri Lankan new ball seamers Asitha Fernando and Vishwa Fernando were right on the money straight away with some moisture in the surface providing them significant seam movement. The latter induced an outside edge off Anamul Haque twice in his second over, only for wicket-keeper Kusal Mendis to make a hash of one and the other falling slightly short of slip, but eventually managed to get through to the stumps and send the opener packing for a duck. Just seven runs followed off the next five overs with the Tigers reeling at 12/1 after 10 overs but as the ball lost its shine, Mominul Haque and Shadman Islam began operating comfortably at the crease. Sensing the shift in momentum, Dhananjaya de Silva brought the spin duo of Tharindu Ratnayake and Prabath Jayasuriya into the attack as early as the 13th over itself, before taking the ball himself at the start of the 17th over as the partnership ticked close to 40. The skipper delivered an ugly long hop to begin, only for Mominul to slam it straight to cover and depart for 21 much to the shock of everyone involved. Another quiet spell of batting followed as Najmul Hossain Shanto and Shadman were content soaking pressure, a tactic that got them through to Lunch safely at 71/2.
The pitch had already begun to offer turn by the time the players returned after the 40-minute break, but it was Vishwa Fernando who struck first by hammering away on the fourth stump line and eventually have Shanto nick one to the keeper. Six deliveries later, Ratnayake tempte Shadman into a drive by bowling full and wide, only for the red cherry to turn away viciously and de Silva held onto a sharp catch at slip to strand the opener four short of a half-century. Left reeling at 70/4, the experienced pair of Mushfiqur Rahim and Litton Das once again had Bangladesh retreat into a shell when rain brought them repreive, the score reading 76/4. Once play resumed however, the duo took the counterattacking root and benefitted from dropped catches from Prabath Jayasuriya and Lahiru Udana to compile 67 runs for the fifth wicket. But just when Tea beckoned, Mendis took a sharp juggling catch with the gloves to send Litton back for 34 and hand debutant Sonal Dinusha his maiden Test scalp.
The Tigers began the third session at 144/5 and lost Mushfiqur soon after for 35 courtesy an unrequisited slog sweep to tilt the scales further in Lanka's favour as Nayeem Hasan joined Mehidy Hasan Miraz at the crease. The duo showed great composure to add 27 runs to Bangladesh's efforts but just when Miraz was beginning to look set, Vishwa had him nick to a lone slip to end his 31-run stay. Hasan could not last till Stumps either as Asitha pegged back his off-stump
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