Nazmul Hossain battles, but Sri Lanka gets closer to winning the series

On the fourth day of the second Test match against Sri Lanka, Bangladesh produced a valiant display of resistance. It was led by an attacking half-century from Mominul Haque. And valuable contributions from, Litton Das (38) and Mehidy Hasan (44*)Shakib Al Hasan (36). However, the visitors remained in control in Chhatogram. Tuesday saw the hosts reach stumps at 268/7. They still need to win the Test and square the series at 243 runs.

After saving Sri Lanka’s batting order on the third day, Angelo Mathews and Prabath Jayasuriya extended their partnership by 30 runs until the latter left shortly after reaching his half-century. Shakib Al Hasan delivered a brilliant left-arm spinner’s ball that had Mathews pressing forward and beaten with a turner on the outside edge. After a few more minutes, Jayasuriya and Fernando maintained the fort, and Sri Lanka elected to declare their second innings at 157 for 7, giving the hosts more than five sessions of play to reach their target of 512.

Bangladesh arrived prepared to pursue the total in a pretty aggressive manner. At the crease, Mahmudul Hasan and Zakir Hasan were occupied and continually trying to flip the strike over. They gained a couple of boundaries via an edge to a draw and a slap to a wide delivery, which enabled them to reach 31 for no loss at lunch. Mahmudul ran down the track to Jayasuriya early in the second session and smacked him for a boundary into the long-on area. Still, the spinner got the final laugh, clearing the batsman with an arm delivery three balls later.

After the openers gave a solid start, Vishwa Fernando had Zakir caught at first slip a few overs later. It brings Bangladesh to 51 for 2. Mominul didn’t hold back on the boundary-scoring possibilities while Najmul Hossain continued to be careful with his strokeplay. On the second delivery of his innings, he got things rolling by sweeping Jayasuriya for a boundary. Three deliveries later, he came down the track against the spinner and hit him for a six.

Even after the hosts scored some fast runs against Vishwa Fernando, he persisted in his onslaught. Lahiru Kumara, however, caught them off guard by tidying up Shanto. Then Shakib Al Hasan gives a quick blow to the helmet. Even though it rattled the southpaw, he kept encouraging Mominul as they both made their presence known in the center. The alliance was short-lived. However, as in the last over before Tea, Mominul top-edged a sweep to fall to Jayasuriya. Just after reaching his fifty-seventh birthday.

For most of the opening hour of the last session, Bangladesh’s chase was led by Shakib Al Hasan and Litton Das. The pair put up a 61-run partnership for the fifth wicket, but Sri Lanka struck once again when a partnership seemed good. Shakib edged Kamindu Mendis to the slip fielder, and Litton toe-ended a widish short delivery to the ‘keeper. Both batsmen fell in rapid succession.

Mehidy Hasan persisted in attacking even after Bangladesh was reduced to 195 for 6 because of the twin burst. He guided Bangladesh to 268 for 7 at stumps with his seven boundaries.