Taijul wickets help Bangladesh push for unlikely Day 5 win


PTI | Chattogram | Updated: 19-05-2022 14:20 IST | Created: 19-05-2022 14:10 IST
Taijul wickets help Bangladesh push for unlikely Day 5 win
Representative image Image Credit: ANI

Left-arm spinner Taijul Islam took three second-innings wickets to help Bangladesh push for an unlikely win on Day 5 of the first test, reducing Sri Lanka to 128-4 at lunch.

Captain Dimuth Karunaratne was unbeaten on 44, holding up one end amid Taijul's successful bowling at the other, and Dhananjaya de Silva was not out on 12 at the interval. Sri Lanka had an overall lead of 60 with six wickets in hand and two sessions remaining.

Batting dominated the bulk of the first four days, with Sri Lanka posting 397 before Bangladesh replied with 465, taking a 68-run first-innings lead and then taking two wickets before the end of Day 4.

Sri Lanka made a rapid start after resuming Thursday at 39-2, with Kusal Mendis unleashing a powerful attack with two boundaries in the first over from Taijul.

Karunaratne was restrained but never hesitated to make the most of any loose deliveries against a Bangladesh attack that was missing a bowling option after Shoriful Islam was ruled out with a fracture of the hand he sustained while batting.

Mendis scored 48 from 43 deliveries, hitting eight boundaries and a six before he was dismissed by Taijul (3-38) with a ball that spun past him and clipped off stump.

Taijul also tormented Angelo Mathews, who'd posted 199 in Sri Lanka's first innings but was out for a 15-ball duck this time. After failing to get off the mark, a visibly frustrated Mathews tried to charge at a Taijul delivery but ended up giving a return catch.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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