Twitter Reactions: Sri Lanka on the brink of victory after Taijul Islam’s fifer

Dimuth Karunaratne’s Sri Lanka, well and truly, have the upper hand after the close of play on the fourth day of the second Test against Bangladesh in Pallekele. With the Tigers needing 260 runs and five wickets in hand, the hosts can hope to wrap things up early on day five. The track has worsened over the course of the game and the spinners have gotten prodigious turn to ruffle the batters.

Karunaratne leads the charge

After losing two early wickets late on the third day, the Lankans made a reasonable comeback. Even as the other batters contributed in bits and pieces, skipper Karunaratne held the fort from one end. He backed up his ton with a gutsy 78-ball 66 with seven fours and one six. The southpaw showed intent and set the tone. In the end, it was part-timer Saif Haasan, who accounted for his wicket.

He got apt support from Dhananjaya de Silva as the latter got a 52-ball 41 on a wearing surface. Pathum Nissanka and Niroshan Dickwella scored in the 20s with the Lankans declaring at 194 for nine wickets. For Bangladesh, Taijul Islam showed his class and picked up a five-wicket haul. Mehidy Hasan Miraz got the prized wicket of De Silva. Taskin Ahmed and Saif shared one wicket each.

Bangladesh on the mat

Chasing 437, the Tigers tried to take the attacking route. Ramesh Mendis struck first blood, getting rid of Tamim Iqbal for 24. Saif scored 34 but threw his wicket away to Praveen Jayawickrama. Najmul Hossain Shanto, after bagging back-to-back ducks, looked good for his 26 before falling prey to Jayawickrama. Skipper Mominul Haque became Mendis’s second victim after scoring a 48-ball 32.

Mushfiqur Rahim tried to put his head down amidst the regular fall of wickets. Just when he looked set at 40, Mendis accounted for his wicket. Mushfiqur’s knock was laced with five fours and when he got out, the Tigers needed 266 runs. Liton Das got an LBW decision reverse and stayed unbeaten on 14 off 39 balls. Along with him is Mehidy, and together they have a tough task at hand on day five.

Here’s how the netizens reacted to Sri Lanka’s dominance