Praveen Jayawickrama picked up six wickets on his Test debut to put Sri Lanka on top after they declared their innings early in the morning at 493/6. In reply, Bangladesh got bundled out for 251, conceding a 242-runs lead. Sri Lanka are 17/2 at stumps.
Resuming from a run-a-ball 64 on Day 2, Niroshan Dickwella showed urgency and smashed a six and a four off Mehidy Hasan Miraz. Ramesh Mendis, however, got out in the next over and Sri Lanka declared straightaway.
Dickwella walked back unbeaten on 77, which came in just 71 deliveries. He is yet to score that elusive Test hundred.
Tamim Iqbal, at his fluent best, punished the Sri Lankan bowlers every time they missed their line and length. As Saif Hassan took his time, Tamim kept finding the occasional boundary. An over from Mendis went for 15 runs as Tamim hit him successive fours, then Saif launched him over long-on for a six.
Both looked set for big innings, but then Saif (25) edged one to Dhananjaya de Silva at slip. Najmul Hossain Shanto, the centurion of the last match, fell prey to Mendis for a four-ball duck just before lunch. These two dismissals played spoilsport in what was turning out to be a great session for Bangladesh.
Tamim and Mominul Haque then held the innings. Tamim was dropped on 91 by Oshada Fernando at short leg, but he could only add one run before Jayawickrama got the better of him in his next over. He missed out on his century for the second time in a row.
Jayawickrama struck again on the last ball before tea, pinning Mushfiqur Rahim on the front pad. The scoreboard read 214/4 at this point. Bangladesh lost their next six batters for a mere 37 runs as they got bowled out for 251. Jayawickrama took 6-92.
Sri Lanka lost two early wickets, but with a lead of over 259 runs and two days of the match still to be played, they have given themselves a chance to clinch the series.
Brief Scores:
Sri Lanka 493/7 decl. (Lahiru Thirimanne 140, Dimuth Karunaratne 118; Taskin Ahmed 4-127) and 17/2 (Dimuth Karunaratne 13*; Taijul Islam 1-2) lead Bangladesh 251 (Tamim Iqbal 90; Praveen Jayawickrama 6-92) by 259 runs.