Tigers bring SL down to 205/8 at tea
Bangladesh's spinners, led by comeback man Abdur Razzak, continued to hound Sri Lanka's batsmen on a responsive Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium pitch as the tourists barely survived till the tea interval, which they reached on 205 for eight on the first day of the series-deciding Test in Mirpur. Pacer Mustafizur Rahman got the eighth wicket to fall when he had debutant Akila Dananjaya caught brilliantly by a diving Mushfiqur Rahim at cover, and the dismissal two minutes before the scheduled tea break brought an end to the session.
Roshen Silva was the last recognised batsman at the crease, batting on 45 with bowlers Rangana Herath and Suranga Lakmal the only wickets left.
Sri Lanka were cut down to 105 for four in the first session, but they pinned their hopes on opener Kusal Mendis who was batting on an unbeaten half-century after the first session. However, in the second ball after lunch, left-arm spinner Razzak -- coming back to the Test side after a gap of four years – bowled a repeat of the beauty that got skipper Dinesh Chandimal in the first session and got one to turn sharply from around the wicket to disturb the right-handed Mendis's off stump, dismissing the man who scored 196 in the first Test for 68.
Things became bleaker for the Lankans when, in the very next over Bangladesh's other left-arm spinner, Taijul Islam, bowled Niroshan Dickwella with one that kept low. A repair job of sorts by was then undertaken by Roshen Silva, one of three Sri Lankan centurions in the first Test in Chittagong, in the form of a 52-run seventh-wicket stand with lower-order batsman Dilruwan Perera. Perera was however lucky when, in the 42nd over when he was on 18, he edged a full delivery from Bangladesh's lone pacer Mustafizur Rahman but an easy, waist-high chance was dropped at second slip by Sabbir Rahman.
Perera would not enjoy his slice of fortune for too long, however, as in the 49th over he became Taijul's third wicket when he was caught off a bat-pad deflection at silly point to leave Sri Lanka on 162 for seven. Perera, knowing that he had hit the ball, took the review thinking the out decision was for a leg-before dismissal. However, the review showed the inside edge being taken by Mominul Haque, and Sri Lanka lost a wicket and a review.
Earlier, the Mirpur wicket lived up to its pre-match billing of being a result pitch as Bangladesh veteran left-arm spinner reminded all and sundry of the dangers he can pose on a responsive Mirpur wicket by prising out three of the four Sri Lanka wickets to fall before lunch. Having won the toss and not hesitating to bat first on a pitch where dark footmarks appeared within the first two hours of the match, Sri Lanka reached the first interval of the series decider on a shaky 105 for four with the rest of the day promising even more turn and venom from Bangladesh's three-pronged spin attack.
It was a triumphant return to Test cricket for Razzak on the four-year anniversary of the last time he wore a Bangladesh Test cap -- in the Chittagong Test against the same opposition from February 4-8, 2014 -- as he dismissed opener Dimuth Karunaratne, Danushka Gunathilaka and skipper Dinesh Chandimal in the session.
Karunaratne was the first Sri Lanka wicket to fall in the sixth over when he used his feet against the veteran, who saw the advance and fired it down the leg side for wicketkeeper Liton Das to effect a smart stumping with the batsman a metre and a half out of the crease.
Taijul, who came on as first change after off-spinner Mehedi Hasan Miraz and Razzak shared the new-ball duties, produced a peach in the 17th over that pitching on the stumps and turned away sharply right-hander Dhananjaya de Silva sharply to catch the edge through to Sabbir Rahman at slip. That ended a 47-run second-wicket stand and also separated the pair – Kusal Mendis and De Silva -- that put on 308 runs in the first innings in Chittagong.
Despite the two wickets, Sri Lanka – mainly through the attacking initiative of Mendis – seemed to be heading towards lunch on even terms, but 15 minutes before the interval, Razzak struck. In the 28th over, Danushka Gunathilaka decided to chance his arm against Bangladesh's lone member of the 500-wicket club in first-class cricket and paid the price as his attempted hoick only reached the outstretched arms of a backpedalling Mushfiqur Rahim at mid on.
If that wicket was down to batsman error, Sri Lanka skipper Chandimal was faultless as he was undone by a delivery off the very next ball that Razzak bowled from around the wicket. The ball pitched on the right-hander's leg stump and turned away past the defensive prod to hit off stump -- the kind of turn that not many would associate with the 35-year-old journeyman. Silva negotiated the hattrick ball safely.