Bangladesh – Early Wickets Ignite Hope
On the third morning of the Test, Taijul Islam and Nahid Rana breathed life back into Bangladesh’s chances after a punishing Day 2. Sri Lanka, who resumed in control, lost three quick wickets in the first hour as Bangladesh finally got some reward for their perseverance.
“𝑾𝒆 𝒌𝒏𝒆𝒘 𝒘𝒆 𝒏𝒆𝒆𝒅𝒆𝒅 𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒍𝒚 𝒃𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒌𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒈𝒆𝒕 𝒃𝒂𝒄𝒌 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒄𝒉,” 𝑻𝒂𝒊𝒋𝒖𝒍 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅 𝒂𝒇𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏.
Pathum Nissanka, who had already compiled a majestic 150, was the first to go when he chipped Taijul to short cover, earning applause as he departed.
Kamindu and Kusal Steady the Ship
Taijul struck again soon after, slipping an arm ball through Dhananjaya de Silva’s defense to leave Sri Lanka momentarily rattled. But Kamindu Mendis took a positive approach, counterattacking with boundaries off both Ebadot Hossain and Rana.
The counterpunch was briefly halted when Rana found the edge of nightwatchman Prabath Jayasuriya, with Mehidy Hasan Miraz clutching a low catch at slip on the second grab.
“𝑰𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒊𝒎𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒌𝒆𝒆𝒑 𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒂𝒄𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒂𝒗𝒐𝒊𝒅 𝒃𝒆𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒑𝒊𝒏𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝒅𝒐𝒘𝒏,” 𝑲𝒂𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒖 𝒆𝒙𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒈𝒚.
Tense Passage as Lead Grows
Kusal Mendis then joined Kamindu at the crease, and the pair added 49 crucial runs, extending Sri Lanka’s advantage past 150. There was no shortage of drama: one edge from Kamindu brushed the off stump but somehow failed to dislodge the bails, rolling away for four.
“Sometimes you need a bit of luck in cricket,” he admitted with a smile.
Nayeem Strikes Before Lunch
Just as the partnership threatened to take the game away, Nayeem Hasan delivered a key breakthrough. He fired a quicker delivery at Kamindu that went straight on, sliding past the inside edge and deflecting off the pad into the stumps.
At lunch, Sri Lanka were 401 for 6, leading by 154 runs, with Kusal Mendis unbeaten and still guiding the innings.
“𝑾𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒚 𝒑𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒕—𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒐𝒑𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒑𝒖𝒕 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒍𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒓 𝒐𝒓𝒅𝒆𝒓,” 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅 𝑩𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒍𝒂𝒅𝒆𝒔𝒉 𝒔𝒌𝒊𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒓 𝑵𝒂𝒋𝒎𝒖𝒍 𝑯𝒐𝒔𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒏 𝑺𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒐.
Sri Lanka, however, remain in the stronger position as Bangladesh look for more breakthroughs to claw their way back into contention.
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