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       CHITTAGONG: Prabath Jayas-uriya, Lahiru Kumara and Kamindu Mendis each claimed two wickets as Sri Lanka came within grasp of another resounding victory in the second and final Test on Tuesday.

       Bangladesh were 268-7 at stumps on the fourth day in Chittagong, still needing 243 runs for an improbable win.

       Mehidy Hasan Miraz played an unbeaten knock of 44 to take the game into the fifth day with Taijul Islam accompanying him on 10.

       Mominul Haque was the only other batsman to put up a fight, making 50 off 56 balls before he was dismissed by the spinner Jayasuriya in the last over before tea break.

       Mominul denied that the team had lacked preparation.

       “Playing domestic cricket and international Test matches is very different,” he said.

       Shakib Al Hasan and Liton Das put on 61 runs for the fifth wicket after Mominul’s dismissal.

       Off-spinner Kamundu broke the stand as Nishan Madushka took a brilliant reflex catch at silly point to dismiss Shakib for 36.

       Liton got the bottom edge in an attempt for a pull shot off Kumara to depart three overs later for 38.

       Kamindu broke another promising partnership of 46 runs between Mehidy and Shahadat Hossain, trapping the latter leg before for 15.

       ‘STRONG POSITION’

       Mahmudul Hasan (24), fellow opener Zakir Hasan (19), and skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto (20) were all sent back cheaply.

       Jayasuriya bowled Mahmudul to break the 37-run opening stand.

       Zakir gave a catch to Dhana-njaya de Silva off Vishwa Fern-ando at slip, and Lahiru clipped the bail of Najmul’s off-stump.

       Sri Lanka coach Chris Silverwood praised Bangladesh’s fighting spirit.

       “I think Bangladesh played well today. They put the pressure back on the bowlers, they made life difficult for us,” he said. “I think we bowled well in patches — there were periods when we could have bowled better,” he added.

       “I don’t think we quite had the consistency in this innings as we showed in the first innings with the ball, but thankfully our hard work has put us in a strong position”.

       Resuming on 102-6, Sri Lanka batted for a little over an hour to add 55 runs to their overnight score before declaring at 157-7.

       Angelo Mathews, unbeaten on 39 overnight, top-scored with 56 runs. He was bowled by Shakib after making his 41st Test fifty. Jayasuriya was unbeaten on 28 when the declaration came, along with Vishwa Fernando, who was eight not out.

       Debutant pace bowler Hasan Mahmud finished with 4-65 for Bangladesh. Sri Lanka were missing Dinesh Chandimal in the field after he returned home for a family emergency.

       Sri Lanka, who have never lost a Test series to Bangladesh, thrashed the hosts by 328 runs in the first Test at Sylhet.

       SCOREBOARD

       SRI LANKA (1st Innings) 531 (Kusal Mendis 93, Kamindu Mendis 92 not out, D. Karunaratne 86; Shakib Al Hasan 3-110)

       BANGLADESH (1st Innings) 178 (Zakir Hasan 54; A. Fernando 4-34)

       SRI LANKA (2nd Innings, overnight 102-6):

       N. Madushka c Mehidy b Hasan 34

       D. Karunaratne b Hasan 4

       Kusal Mendis b Khaled 2

       A. Mathews b Shakib 56

       D. Chandimal c Shahadat b Hasan 9

       D. de Silva c Liton b Hasan 1

       Kamindu Mendis c Liton b Khaled 9

       P. Jayasuriya not out 28

       V. Fernando not out 8

       EXTRAS (B-5, LB-1) 6

       TOTAL (for seven wickets decl, 40 overs) 157

       DID NOT BAT: A. Fernando, L. Kumara.

       FALL OF WICKETS: 1-12 (Karunaratne), 2-15 (Kusal), 3-60 (Madushka), 4-72 (Chandimal), 5-78 (Dhananjaya), 6-89 (Kamindu), 7-132 (Mathews)

       BOWLING: Khaled 11-2-34-2, Hasan 15-2-65-4, Shakib 10-1-39-1, Taijul 4-0-13-0

       BANGLADESH (2nd Innings):

       Mahmudul Hasan b Jayasuriya 24

       Zakir Hasan c de Silva b V. Fernando 19

       Najmul Hossain b Kumara 20

       Mominul Haque c Kumara b Jayasuriya 50

       Shakib Al Hasan c Madushka b Kamindu 36

       Liton Das c Kusal b Kumara 38

       Shahadat Hossain lbw b Kamindu 15

       Mehidy Hasan not out 44

       Taijul Islam not out 10

       EXTRAS (B-9, LB-1, NB-2) 12

       TOTAL (for seven wickets, 67 overs) 268

       STILL TO BAT: Khaled Ahmed, Hasan Mahmud

       FALL OF WICKETS: 1-37 (Mahmudul), 2-51 (Zakir), 3-94 (Najmul), 4-132 (Mominul), 5-193 (Shakib), 6-197 (Liton), 7-243 (Shahadat)

       BOWLING: V. Fernando 10-0-39-1, A. Fernando 12-1-52-0, Kumara 11-2-41-2, Jayasuriya 20-1-79-2 (2nb), De Silva 7-1-25-0, Kamindu 7-0-22-2

       Published in Dawn, April 3rd, 2024