On the fourth day in Dhaka, Sri Lanka took a stranglehold on the game against Bangladesh, setting the stage for an intriguing final day.
Sri Lanka took a large 141-run advantage because to the twin hundreds from the two veteran hitters. Bangladesh limped in at 34/4 at stumps, down by 107 runs, thanks to the bowlers’ efforts in the final hour of play.
At 282/5, and 83 runs behind Bangladesh, Mathews and Chandimal got off to a good start, blasting two boundaries and a six in the first five overs.
After that, their approach became a lot more cautious, but they made sure the runs kept coming by regularly rotating the strike and putting away the occasional boundary.
At the stroke of noon, Chandimal reached his fifty, and the two batters walked into the break unscathed, having added 87 runs to the overnight total, giving Sri Lanka a four-run lead.
After the break, they continued. In his 90s, Mathews was extremely cautious, needing 27 balls to get from 93 to his second century of the series. On both sides of his century, he was saved by the DRS – he was given caught behind on 94, but replays proved there was no edge.
. When Mathews was on 105, the umpire raised his finger again, and he appeared to be trapped in front, but snicko came to his rescue, displaying a definite spike as the ball passed the bat.
On the other hand, Chandimal, who reached his half-century in 118 balls, was a lot more aggressive following the milestone. His next 50 runs came in 63 balls as he reached his 12th Test century.
Despite being a day four wicket, the Bangladesh bowlers struggled on a track that offered nothing to the pacers and very little spin early on.
The second session was dominated by Mathews and Chandimal, who milked singles and doubles while also finding boundaries when given the opportunity. Sri Lanka were 459/5 at tea, 94 runs ahead of the hosts.
In the second over of the last session, the Tigers eventually broke through, with Ebadot Hossain fooling Chandimal (124) with a slower delivery. Shakib Al Hasan struck on the other end, removing Niroshan Dickwella for nine runs.
Sri Lanka was scoring goals at a rapid pace, but they were also losing wickets. Shakib clinched his 19th Test five-wicket haul by snaring Praveen Jayawickrama in the very next ball after Hossain trapped Ramesh Mendis for ten.
Asitha Fernando was the last to fall, attempting to keep Mathews on strike by running out to the non-end. striker’s Mathews was left stranded on 145*.
Bangladesh faced a difficult hour before stumps, and their second innings got off to a disastrous start when Tamim Iqbal fell for a duck, giving them a pair for the match.
Najmul Hossain Shanto was sent back to the hut two overs later after a direct hit from Jayawickrama. With DRS assisting Sri Lanka, Mominul Haque followed him back in the next over for a duck.
Fernando hit Mahmudul Hasan with a belter of a delivery, leaving Kusal Mendis with a straightforward catch at slip. Bangladesh had been reduced to 23/4 before Mushfiqur Rahim and Liton Das ensured no further damage was done.
On the last day, they have everything to do.
