Bangladesh reached 132-4 at tea on Day of the second and final Test against Sri Lanka, chasing an improbable target of 511 for a victory at Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chattogram today.
Mominul Haque struck a fluent 50 off 56 with eight fours and one six to lead Bangladesh’s charge but the visitors stayed on course of a victory for a series sweep.
Bangladesh still requires 379 runs with six wickets at hands. Shakib Al Hasan was batting on 14 with Liton Das yet to score at the second interval of the day.
With five session to survive to save the Test, Bangladesh looked more inclined to score as much as it is possible with openers Mahmudul Hasan Joy and Zakir Hasan picking up runs in rapid fashion.
Left-arm spinner Prabath Jayasuriya provided the first breakthrough, rattling the stump of Joy as he was late for a cut and missed the line after making 24.
Pacer Vishwa Fernando struck with a back of length delivery as Zakir edged behind. Zakir, who made a team-high 54 in the first innings, scored 19.
Mominul Haque and skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto shared 43-run for the third wicket before pacer Lahiru Kumara got the better of the Bangladesh captain after tormenting him, varying his pace. Shanto, after three single digit figures, finally reached double digits but could score just 20.
Mominul, who counterattacked right from the word go, was dismissed on the stroke of tea when he swept Jayasuriya straight to deep square leg where Kumara completed an easy catch.
The dismissal of Mominul further bolstered Sri Lanka’s iron grip on the match.
Earlier, resuming at 102-6, Sri Lanka declared its second innings on 157-7, setting a daunting 511-run target for Bangladesh.
Sri Lanka pushed for quick runs in the morning session with veteran Angelo Mathews leading the charge. He scored 56 of 74, hitting five fours and was the only fallen wicket of Sri Lanka.
Mathews ensured the bowlers had enough time to take 10 wickets of the opponents in the rest of the five sessions of the match. He got the support from Prabath Jayasuriya who was unbeaten on 28.
Left-arm spinner Shakib Al Hasan gave Bangladesh the only breakthrough when he bowled Mathews, shortly after he raised his 41st test fifty.
Sri Lanka dominated Bangladesh in the first innings to compile 531, the highest Test total without any batsman scoring a century.
Later it bowled Bangladesh out for 178 and took a huge 353-run lead but instead of enforcing follow-on, Sri Lanka decided to bat again with an aim to bury Bangladesh under avalanche of runs.
