Bangladesh eke out five wickets but Sri Lanka remain in control of Sylhet Test

Bangladesh managed to eke out five wickets in the second innings but Sri Lanka are still in the box seat of the first Test with a lead of 211 at the Sylhet International Cricket Stadium in Sylhet. 

At stumps on day two, Sri Lanka were 119-5 with skipper Dhananjaya de Silva batting on 23* and nightwatcher Vishwa Fernando on two.

Nahid Rana, snared three scalps in the first innings, hurried the Sri Lankan batters early on and gave two crucial breakthroughs by getting the better of Nishan Madushka and Kusal Mendis. 

The debutant generated high pace and unlike the first innings, he maintained a decent line and length in his opening spell.

Khaled Ahmed and Shoriful Islam bowled with a lot of heart, asked questions and beat the bat on a number of occasions, but were unlucky to get many rewards. 

Taijul Islam and Mehidy Hasan Miraz struck immediately to remove the experienced duo of Angelo Mathews and Dinesh Chandimal to put Sri Lanka in a spot of bother at 64-4.

Dimuth Karunaratne (52) and Dhananjaya de Silva added 49 for the fifth wicket to frustrate the hosts before a Shoriful bouncer got the better of the former.

The lead had crossed 200 by the time Bangladesh got the fifth wicket. 

Lahiru Kumara struck thrice in the morning session and Vishwa Fernando and Kasun Rajitha picked up two wickets each in the second session on day two to bundle Bangladesh out for 188.

Sri Lanka, who had scored 280 in the first innings, took a first-innings lead of 92.

Earlier, Bangladesh resumed their innings in the second session at 132-6, still trailing by 148 runs. Taijul Islam, who had survived 71 balls before lunch, could face only nine more before Rajitha got him out for 47. It was his highest score in Tests.

Shoriful Islam (15) and Khaled Ahmed (21) used the long handle but the hosts were always going to concede a big lead.

Kumara accounted for the wickets of Mahmudul Hasan Joy (12) and Shahadat Hossain (18) in his first spell to leave Bangladesh in tatters at 83-5 in the morning session. 

Taijul Islam was on 0* when Bangladesh went into stumps on day one at 32-3. After Shahadat's dismissal, Litton joined him for a partnership of 41 off 76. 

Litton hit a couple of boundaries off Vishwa Fernando and started to look comfortable. But Sri Lanka captain Dhananjaya de Silva brought back Kumara and the move paid dividends straightaway. 

He got the back to tail in and sneak through the gap between the bat and pad of Litton (25).