Dimuth Karunaratne and Lahiru Thirimanne added 114 runs for the first wicket before a triple blow pushed Sri Lanka on the back foot. They finished Day 3 on 229/3. Earlier in the day, Bangladesh had declared their innings on 541/7.
Liton Das smashed two consecutive fours to bring up 12 runs from the first over of the day, bowled by Dhananjaya de Silva. Mushfiqur Rahim soon brought his 23rd half-century as Bangladesh reached the 500-run mark in the same over. Das followed him with a 66-ball 50 before Vishwa Fernando got him out on the next ball he faced. Das’s innings was laced with five fours and a six.
Mushfiqur walked back unbeaten on 68 as Bangladesh declared just before lunch after adding 67 runs to their overnight total, and lost three wickets in the process.
Vishwa Fernando took four wickets, while Suranga Lakmal, Lahiru Kumara and Dhananjaya returned with a wicket apiece.
Thirimanne and Karunaratne negotiated the early phase with ease and added 11 runs in eight overs before lunch was called. Taskin Ahmed and Ebadot Hossain started the attack after lunch. One over from Ebadot went for 14 runs, including two fours, a no ball, a wide He conceded two boundaries, a no ball, a wide and four byes.
Once again, Ebadot found himself on the receiving end as both openers smashed a boundary each in his sixth over. Thirimanne brought his fifty but could only add eight more runs before getting trapped on his front pad on the last ball before tea. Thirimanne and Karunaratne forged a century partnership for the second time in a row: the first came in the final Test against West Indies where the duo added 101 runs.
Oshada Fernando (20 off 43) started well but fell prey to Taskin, while Angelo Mathews (25 off 32) saw his stumps crashed by Taijul Islam. Both of them struck four boundaries each. Dimuth Karunaratne held the fort from on end, and he is currently batting on 85*.
Brief Scores:
Bangladesh 541 for 7 decl. (Najmul Hossain Shanto 163, Mominul Haque 127; Vishwa Fernando 4-96) lead Sri Lanka 229/3 (Dimuth Karunaratne 85*, Lahiru Thirimanne 58; Taskin Ahmed 1/35) by 312 runs.