Herath, Perera bowl Sri Lanka to 182-run lead

Mushfiqur Rahim, the Bangladesh skipper, held firm with a plucky 85 but Rangana Herath, his opposite number, and Dilruwan Perera took three wickets apiece to help Sri Lanka snatch a 182-run lead on the third day of the first Test at the Galle International Stadium on Thursday (March 9).

Bangladesh resumed the third morning on 133 for 2 in reply to Sri Lanka’s imposing 494, and was bowled out shortly after tea for 312. Sri Lanka could not resume its second innings as the rain returned again to wash out the rest of the day. Play was called off at 4.13 pm local time and will begin 15 minutes ahead of schedule, at 9.45 am, in a bid to make up for lost time.

Sri Lanka made swift inroads in the morning session to leave Bangladesh gasping at 192 for 6. That’s when Rahim got together with Mehdi Hasan to stitch together a 106-run stand for the seventh wicket that helped Bangladesh avoid the follow-on.

Perera (3 for 53) broke their stubborn partnership when he trapped Mehedi lbw for 41. Perera took the wicket of Taskin Ahmed off the next ball after a successful review when his initial appeal for lbw was turned down by Marais Erasmus, the umpire.

Rahim, who had been cautious in the first session and taken 84 deliveries in reaching 22 at lunch, opened up after the interval with a flurry of boundaries. Rahim had been shaken up by a bouncer from Lahiru Kumara that followed him and pinged him on the helmet when he was 16, but gutsed it out and then unleashed sparkling strokeplay after lunch as he reached 85 in a little over four hours off 161 deliveries, with eight fours and a six. He was eventually bowled by Herath (3 for 72).

Rahim and Mehedi's stand came after Bangladesh had lost four wickets in the opening session that had threatened to derail its innings completely.

Suranga Lakmal took the key wicket of Soumya Sarkar for 71 not long after the day’s play started. Sarkar top-edged Lakmal's rising delivery to Lahiru Kumara at fine-leg off the last delivery of the day’s third over. Sarkar added just five runs to his overnight 66, his 137-ball knock containing eight fours and a six.

Shakib Al Hasan danced his way to 23 off just 19 balls before glancing a slider from Lakshan Sandakan down the leg-side, where Niroshan Dickwella held a smart catch. Mahmudullah (8) was bowled by a beauty from Kumara that shaped in and held its line, while Liton Das (5) edged Herath to Asela Gunaratne at slip.

The Sri Lankan first-innings effort was built around Kusal Mendis’s adventurous 194 and good hands from Gunaratne (85), Dickwella (75) and Perera (51).