Hasan brings some relief after batting disaster

Debutant pacer Hasan Mahmud claimed four wickets in the last session to bring some smiles to the faces of Bangladesh fans after the team's abysmal batting performance, as Sri Lanka ended the third day of the second Test on 102-6, with a lead of 456 at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chattogram today.

Bangladesh had gotten bundled out for 178 at the cusp of tea, conceding a 353-run lead to Sri Lanka. The visitors chose not to enforce the follow-on, seemingly to rest their bowlers, and came out to bat in their second innings.

Hasan, who had claimed two wickets in the first innings and looked impressive, picked up from where he had left off as he and Khaled Ahmed zeroed in on the good length and persisted on the fourth stump line for most of the sessions, troubling the Lankan batters with the occasional steep bounce and some movement off the pitch.

Hasan drew the first blood, rattling the stumps of Dimuth Karunaratne (four) in the second over. Khaled then bowled Kusal Mendis (two) in the following over to reduce Sri Lanka to 15-2.

Nishan Maduskha and Angelo Mathews then added 45 runs for the third wicket before the former got caught at extra cover off Hasan after making 34.

Hasan then nicked off Dinesh Chandimal (nine) and skipper Dhananjaya de Silva (one) in his next two overs and Kamindu Mendis, who hit an unbeaten 92 in the first innings, got caught behind off Khaled for nine as Sri Lanka got reduced to 89-6.

The experienced Angelo Mathews, who was dropped on seven by Shahadat Hossain Dipu at first slip off Hasan, remained unbeaten on 39 and will begin the fourth day's proceedings alongside Prabath Jayasuriya, who is batting on three.

Despite the efforts of the Bangladesh pacers, Sri Lanka end the day in pole position to win the Test and clean sweep the two-Test series.

Shambolic Bangladesh all out for 178

Bangladesh's shambolic batting performance came to an end as they lost their six remaining wickets in the post-lunch session and were bundled out for 178, conceding a mammoth 353-run lead at tea on Day 3 of the second Test against Sri Lanka at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chattogram today.

The Tigers fell 153 runs short of avoiding the follow-on and it remains to be seen whether the visitors enforce the follow-on and invite Bangladesh for their second innings after the tea interval.

The hosts lost Shakib Al Hasan (15), Liton Das (four), Shahadat Hossain Dipu (eight), Mehedi Hasan Miraz (seven),  Mominul Haque (33) and Khaled Ahmed (one) in the session with pacer Asitha Fernando claiming four wickets while pacer Lahiru Kumara and Prabath Jayasuriya took one each in the session. 

Any hopes of a stern resistance after resuming play on 115-4 post-lunch evaporated very quickly as Shakib and Liton departed inside four deliveries in the fourth over of the session. 

Shakib was trapped LBW with an in-coming delivery, a decision he reviewed but the third umpire upheld the decision on umpire's call. Liton opened his account with a beautiful cover drive for a four but poked the next ball straight into the hands of the keeper.

Dipu stuck around for a few overs before getting caught at slip off Lahiru, a decision that was sent upstairs by the on-field umpires but upon inspection, the TV umpire deduced that Kamindu Mendis had taken the catch safely.

Miraz was the next to depart in the session, getting trapped LBW by left-arm spinner Prabath Jayasuriya.

Both Dipu and Miraz had gotten a second life in the session, with Prabath dropping a simple return catch off the former when he was on seven and the latter getting dropped by substitute fielder Sadeera Samarawickrama on two. But neither could cash in on their second life.

Mominul Haque witnessed wickets tumbling from the other end as he continued accumulating runs, completing 4000 runs in Test cricket with his 25th run in the innings, becoming the fourth cricketer from Bangladesh to reach this milestone. 

But Mominul's resistance also ended with an in-swinging fuller-length delivery from Asitha, which hit him on the front foot and the umpire adjudged the batter LBW.

Khaled then lost his middle stump to Asitha, ending Bangladesh's innings on a paltry 178 in 68.4 overs.

Bangladesh four down at lunch

Bangladesh lost three wickets for nine runs in the second hour of the morning session and went into lunch four down for 115, trailing Sri Lanka by 416 runs on Day 3 of the second Test at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chattogram today.

Zakir Hasan was the first to depart, getting undone by a lethal in-coming delivery from Vishwa Fernando, which rattled his stumps. Zakir had made 54 with the help of eight fours and his dismissal ended a 49-run stand with Taijul Islam.

Skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto then gifted his wicket to left-arm spinner Prabath Jayasuriya, chipping an innocuous-looking delivery straight into the hands of Dimuth Karunatratne, departing for one.

Night-watchman Taijul was the next to depart for 22, also falling victim to Fernando, with the ball taking an inside edge off the bat and then crashing into the stumps, leaving Bangladesh four down for 105. 

Bangladesh's two most experienced batters Shakib Al Hasan and Mominul Haque, batting on six and two respectively, will have to try and repair damage after play resumes.

The Sri Lankan bowlers were on the money from the start of the day's play, constantly testing the Bangladesh batters and after a barren 60 minutes they reaped the rewards of their perseverance in the second hour.

Zakir completes fifty, Bangladesh survive first hour

Bangladesh's overnight pair of Zakir Hasan and Taijul Islam survived the opening hour of play on Day 3 of the second Test in Chattogram today, surviving a few close calls, with the former completing his fourth half-century in Tests.

Zakir completed his fifty with a boundary off Vishwa Fernando, and is batting on 53 with Taijul keeping him company at the other end on nine. After 31 overs, Bangladesh are 90-1 in their first innings, trailing Sri Lanka by 441 runs.

Zakir nearly got caught off Lahiru Kumara on 39, when he edged the ball to the slip cordon and Kamindu Mendis at second slip dived to take the catch. The on-field umpires sent the decision upstairs to check the legitimacy of the catch and the replays showed that the ball had bounced right before it went into Kamindu's palms.

Kumara also induced an outside edge off Taijul but the ball didn't carry to Dimuth Karunaratne at first slip.

Sri Lanka also took a review against Zakir a few overs later for caught behind against Fernando but the TV replays showed daylight between the bat and ball.

The hosts resumed the day's play on 55-1, with Zakir and Taijul unbeaten on 28 and 0 respectively, trailing Sri Lanka by another 476 runs.