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       SRI LANKAN opener Pathum Nissanka is clean bowled by Bangladesh pacer Hasan Mahmud during their first Test at the Galle International Cricket Stadium on Thursday.—AFP

       GALLE: Pathum Nissanka’s career-best 187 helped Sri Lanka finish the third day of the first Test against Bangladesh in a strong position here at the Galle International Stadium on Thursday, only 127 runs off the Tigers’ first innings score.

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       The 27-year-old opener anchored the Sri Lanka innings before they finished on 368-4 at the close of play, behind Bangladesh’s 495.

       He struck several key partnerships before he was bowled by Hasan Mahmud towards the end of the day’s play.

       Nissanka, who had been under pressure before the match with only one half-century in nine innings, hit 23 fours and a six in his marathon 256-ball innings.

       Nissanka looked set for his maiden double-ton when he was bowled by Mahmud, who was bowling with the second new ball.

       “This is my first Test hundred at home so I was very happy to get there,” Nissanka said after the day’s play. “It is important that we get a decent lead and put them under pressure.”

       But Sri Lanka’s top-scorer said he was “disappointed” with the way he got out.

       He acknowledged he had failed to score big since his century in Engl-a-nd last year and said that he was “trying to make the most of today”.

       Kamindu Mendis (37) and skipper Dhananjaya de Silva (17) will take charge of Sri Lanka’s first innings on the fourth day, with the Galle wicket still playing well for the batters.

       Besides Mahmud, Taijul Islam, Nayeem Hasan and Mominul Haque finished the third day with one wicket each in a largely uneventful session for Bangladesh’s bowlers.

       Nissanka lost his opening partner Lahiru Udara (29) early in the day to the slow left-arm orthodox bowling of Islam.

       Dinesh Chandimal came in and took a solid 54 runs before he was removed by Hasan after an important 157-run partnership with Nissanka.

       Veteran Angelo Matthews, walking out to bat in his farewell Test with a guard of honour from the opposition, hit 39 runs in a key cameo that took the hosts to 293 before he fell to Mominul.

       Earlier, the third day started with Sri Lanka wrapping up Bangladesh’s innings in just three overs after their overnight score of 484-9.

       Bangladesh’s last man Nahid Rana feathered a short ball to wicket-keeper Kusal Mendis as fast bowler Asitha Fernando completed a return of 4-86 from his 29.4 overs.

       The visitors had been cruising at 458-4 on Wednesday before losing five wickets for 26 runs in the final hour of the rain-hit second day.

       Bangladesh’s bowling coach Shaun Tait said it was “a good batting wicket” in Galle.

       “It was difficult conditions for the fast bowlers today, they toiled hard,” he said after play on Thursday.

       He acknowledged the Bangladesh “lower order didn’t contribute much”, but said they would have taken the score before the game.

       “I am not going to be critical of our batters,” he said.

       Scoreboard

       BANGLADESH (1st innings, overnight 484-9):

       Shadman Islam c de Silva b T. Ratnayake 14

       Anamul Haque c Kusal Mendis b Fernando 0

       Mominul Haque c de Silva b T. Ratnayake 29

       Najmul Hossain c Mathews b Fernando 148

       Mushfiqur Rahim lbw Fernando 163

       Litton Das c Kusal Mendis b T. Ratnayake 90

       Jaker Ali b M. Rathnayake 8

       Nayeem Hasan c Kusal Mendis b M. Rathnayake 11

       Taijul Islam b M. Rathnayake 6

       Hasan Mahmud Not Out 7

       Nahid Rana Kusal Mendis b Fernando 0

       EXTRAS (B-8, LB-5, NB-2, W-4) 19

       TOTAL (all out, 153.4 overs) 495

       FALL OF WICKETS: 1-5 (Anamul), 2-39 (Shadman), 3-45 (Mominul), 4-309 (Najmul), 5-458 (Mushfiqur), 6-458 (Litton), 7-474 (Jaker), 8-483 (Taijul), 9-484 (Nayem)

       BOWLING: Fernando 29.4-5-86-4 (1w), M. Rathnayake 23.4-6-39-3, T. Ratnayake 49.2-3-196-3 (3w, 1nb), Jayasuriya 48-2-154-0 (1nb), de Silva 3-0-7-0

       SRI LANKA (1st Innings):

       P. Nissanka b Hasan 187

       L. Udara c&b Taijul 29

       D. Chandimal c Shadman b Nayeem 54

       A. Mathews c Litton b Mominul 39

       KD. Mendis not out 37

       D. de Silva not out 17

       EXTRAS (LB-3, NB-2) 5

       TOTAL (for four wickets, 93 overs) 368

       FALL OF WICKETS: 1-47 (Udara), 2-204 (Chandimal), 3-293 (Mathews), 4-331 (de Silva)

       STILL TO BAT: K. Mendis, T. Rathnayake, M. Ratnayake, P. Jayasuriya, A. Fernando

       BOWLING: Hasan 12-2-49-1, Nahid 16-0-80-0 (2nb), Taijul 34-3-126-1, Nayeem 25-0-86-1, Mominul 6-0-24-1

       Published in Dawn, June 20th, 2025