Shakib, Litton counter-attack after Mushfiqur's fall as Bangladesh move into lead
Shakib hit Dhananjaya de Silva for a four to pick up his first fifty of the series, off 61 balls. Litton is unbeaten on 48 off 127. Bangladesh are 149 for five at lunch, leading by eight runs.
Bangladesh recovered quite well after losing five for 53 in the second innings and at one stage were staring at an innings defeat but Litton Das and Shakib Al Hasan forged a good partnership for the sixth wicket to give the hosts a chance to possibly save the match.
Bangladesh lost their top four late on the third session of day four and finished the day on 34 for four. Mushfiqur Rahim, one of the stars of the first innings, was excellently set up by Kasun Rajitha early on day five as he had no answers to an incoming delivery which kept a shade low.
There was uneven bounce for the pacers and the spinners were getting the ball to turn and bounce frequently but Shakib and Litton were up to the task. Shakib, in particular, was very aggressive from the get-go. The southpaw hit Rajitha for three fours in the same over to get going. He used his feet against spinners to cover the turn and always looked to score.
Litton, on the other hand, adopted a little bit different approach but he too did not let scoring opportunities slip. The duo added 96 off just 153 balls before lunch was taken on day five. Shakib hit Dhananjaya de Silva for a four to pick up his first fifty of the series, off 61 balls. Litton is unbeaten on 48 off 127. Bangladesh are 149 for five at lunch, leading by eight runs.
