BAN vs SL, 2nd Test, Day 2, Review: Sri Lanka firmly in control as the lead goes past 300

Sri Lanka ended day two of the second and final Test match against Bangladesh on a high as their lead in the second innings went past 300. It was Roshen Silva who held the innings together for the visitors and scored yet another half-century in his unbeaten stay. Bangladesh, however, would be ruing their lacklustre display with the bat earlier in the morning and are now facing the most likely prospect of losing their first home Test series since 2015.

Earlier in the day, the unbeaten duo of Mehidy Hasan and Liton Das started off with an aim to take their team close to the first innings total of the visitors somehow. They added 17 runs to the overnight total after which the latter was castled by Suranga Lakmal who was magnificent late on the first day as well. The skipper Mahmudullah then joined Mehidy and stitched a partnership of 34 runs for the sixth wicket.

Stunning collapse

When the things were just settling for the home side, the debutant Akila Dananjaya wreaked havoc and scalped three wickets in just seven balls. He first disturbed the timber of Mahmudullah and then sent back Sabbir Rahman packing for a three-ball duck in the same over. Abdur Razzaq was the next one to follow his teammates as Dananjaya held on to a simple caught and bowled chance. Bangladesh were soon bundled out before lunch as Dilruwan Perera pinned Mustafizur Rahman in front.

The hosts had collapsed sensationally from being 107/5 and 110 all out conceding a huge lead of 112 runs to the visitors in the first innings. Lakmal and Dananjaya picked three wickets each, while Perera scalped a couple and surprisingly Rangana Herath went wicketless this time around.

Roshen stands tall again

Sri Lanka were more cautious in the second innings but lost the wicket of Kusal Mendis soon after the lunch. However, it was the duo of Dimuth Karunaratne and Dhananjaya de Silva which settled the nerves with a 34-run stand before the latter was castled by Taijul Islam. The wickets kept on falling at the regular intervals even as the lead went past 200 runs. But the 51-run partnership between the captain Dinesh Chandimal and Roshen Silva made things worse for the Tigers.

Both played the spin bowling well and stabilised the innings. But wickets began falling once again in the final hour with Mustafizur making in the inroads for the home side. He scalped Perera and Akila off successive deliveries as the fans hoped that their heroes will come out to bat. But Roshen and Lakmal made sure there were no further hiccups with an unbeaten 22-run partnership as Sri Lanka ended the day on 200/8. They now lead by 312 runs and have batted Bangladesh out of the game.

Roshen Silva remained unbeaten on magnificent 58 and has looked in no trouble whatsoever during his stay. The visitors would look to extend the lead as much as they can on the third morning and would love to win the series later in the day itself. The pitch has deteriorated further and Bangladesh would need magical innings from a couple of their batsmen to have a realistic chance of chasing down the total.

Brief Scores

Sri Lanka 222 (K Mendis 68, R Silva 56; A Razzaq 4/63, T Islam 4/83) & 200/8 (R Silva 58*; M Rahman 3/35)

Bangladesh 110 (M Hasan 38*; A Dananjaya 3/20, S Lakmal 3/25)

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