Bangladesh 220 for 8 (Shadman 46, Mushfiqur 35, Dinusha 2-22, Vishwa 2-35) vs Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka dropped five catches, had a couple of edges fall short, and missed a run-out chance. But such was their dominance with the ball on day one of the second Test against Bangladesh that they still managed to pick up eight wickets.
It meant that at stumps, on a rain-affected day, Bangladesh, who had won the toss in the hope of setting an imposing first-innings total on what was supposed to be a generally batter-friendly SSC track in Colombo, were left picking up the pieces on 220 for 8. Taijul Islam and Ebadot Hossain were at the crease for the visitors.
Sri Lanka's spinners and seamers proved impactful in equal measure, with wickets spread among five out of the six bowlers. Asitha Fernando and Vishwa Fernando picked up two apiece, as did debutant left-arm spinner Sonal Dinusha. The offspin of Dhananjaya de Silva and Tharindu Rathnayake shared a wicket each. Only Prabath Jayasuriya, who plays his club cricket at SSC, went wicketless, as his lean spell in Tests continued.
Jayasuriya's woes were brought into sharper contrast by Dinusha, the other left-arm spinner in Sri Lanka's arsenal, who made a dream Test debut by picking up the wickets of Litton Das and Mushfiqur Rahim in his opening spell. Dinusha's first three overs, meanwhile, were maidens and included a wicket, this becoming just the fourth player to achieve the unique feat on debut since ESPNcricinfo began collecting ball-by-ball data.
Bangladesh, meanwhile, had several middling partnerships, but none which they were able to utilise to truly impose themselves on the Sri Lanka attack. It was only during a brief period in the prolonged post-lunch session, which included a one-and-a-half hour rain interval, that Sri Lanka may have been concerned. Mushfiqur and Litton put on a stand of 67 off 113 balls - though, at times, they were going at comfortably above four runs an over.
Sri Lanka's frustrations would, no doubt, have been exacerbated by the fact that both batters ought to have been back in the pavilion far earlier. Litton had been dropped at deep midwicket after Jayasuriya went with just his left hand instead of both hands, while Lahiru Udara spilled an even simpler chance - also at deep midwicket - by misjudging a fairly regulation overhead catch.
But either side of tea, Dinusha changed Sri Lanka's fortunes definitively. First, he removed Litton in just his second over, with the Bangladesh wicketkeeper-batter attempting to cut one that was a little too close to his body. It was edged to through to Kusal Mendis, who juggled the ball a couple of times before eventually holding on.
Then, in his fifth over, Dinusha got the prized wicket, as Mushfiqur holed out to deep midwicket while attempting a slog sweep - the same shot that had seen him reprieved earlier in the day. That those catches stuck would have brought Sri Lanka a modicum of relief, having dropped so many prior.
Overall, there were five missed catching opportunities in the innings total, though the first - of Anamul Haque - didn't prove costly, as he was dismissed a short while later without getting off the mark. Sri Lanka also had a couple of edges go safely through the slip cordon, most notably off Mushfiqur, while they also missed a run-out chance of Shadman Islam.
Shadman had eventually fallen in the 40 minutes of play between lunch and the rain break, four runs short of his second straight half-century. More than the delivery itself from Rathnayake, which was tossed up full and wide, it was the catch - travelling quickly at head height above the right shoulder - from Dhananjaya that made the wicket.
It was Rathnayake's first wicket of the innings to cap an improved showing after lunch following a fairly inconsistent period in the morning session. He may have had a couple more, with both Mushfiqur and Litton dropped off his bowling.
An over prior to that, Vishwa was rewarded for his patient lines outside off, getting Najmul Hossain Shanto to push out at one around a fifth-stump line. Shanto got an outside edge, and Kusal behind the stumps did the rest.
The final dropped chance came towards the close of play, as Kusal failed to hold on to a gloved chance down leg off Asitha. But Asitha's wounds would be salved two balls later, when he dismissed Nayeem Hasan with one that straightened just enough to beat the outside edge and clip off stump.
Nayeem's 25 off 51 deliveries had been a fighting knock, but like so many batters before him, he was unable to carry on. Sri Lanka, to their credit, rarely made it easy for the Bangladesh batters, keeping their lines and lengths consistent throughout the day. It meant that Bangladesh proceeded cautiously, though the visitors were content to wait for the bad deliveries.
The problem for Bangladesh was that the bad deliveries were few and far between, and the surfeit of dot balls owing to poor strike rotation allowed Sri Lanka to build pressure effectively. And on the occasions that a batter might have persevered through such a period - no less than six batters reached at least 20 - they tended to throw their wicket away.
Mominul Haque chipped a nothing delivery to cover, Shadman went chasing a wide one, and Mushfiqur took a needless risk with a player set on the boundary for just such a stroke. With the pitch expected to ease up over the next day or two, Bangladesh may well rue not having applied themselves better.
