Sri Lanka put on 494 courtesy Kusal Mendis' 194 and some fighting knocks from the lower order. Bangladesh in reply ended the day on 133/2, with Tamim Iqbal and Soumya Sarkar putting on a century partnership for the opening wicket.
The day, though, belonged to Lanka thanks to a couple of late wickets in the final session. Earlier, Mendis was dismissed six short of a maiden double ton while Nirosha Dickwella and Dilruwan Perera played their part by posting half-centuries.
Bangladesh were aided by a couple of dropped chances and took full advantage as they began their first innings with a century partnership. A moment of madness from Tamim, however, resulted in the first breakthrough before Dilruwan broke through again by trapping Mominul Haque in front of the stumps.
Brief Scores: Sri Lanka 494/10 (Mendis 194, Gunaratne 85, Dickwella 75, Mehedi Hasan 4/113). Bangladesh 133/2 (Tamim 57, Sarkar 66)
Take a glance at the talking points from the day's play.
#5 Kusal Mendis squanders double-hundred opportunity
Kusal Mendis had benefitted from a no-ball from Subashis Roy early on day 1 to end the day unbeaten on 166. He looked well set for a double hundred as he continued to toy with the Bangladesh bowlers on the second day.
He got another reprieve when he pulled Roy to Mustafizur in the deep. The fielder caught the ball but stepped on the rope in the process. Mendis attempted another six when on 194 to get to a maiden double ton in style. But the attempt went in vain as he found the fielder in the deep.
The 194 was crucial for a young Sri Lankan team still finding their feet in Test cricket. The maturity of Mendis was on full display, however, he will look back at the slog shot that eventually brought about his downfall with quite some regret.
#4 Mehedi Hasan revels
The young off-spinner was a revelation for Bangladesh last year. With a bag full of tricks up his sleeve, Mehedi bowled his heart out on days 1 and 2. The offie found flight, turn and drift and bamboozled the Lankan batsmen on a flat wicket.
The rewards came pretty late, though. He had Kusal Mendis caught on 194 off a flighted delivery that the set batsmen misread. A few overs later he confused Nirosha Dickwella with his line and had him caught at third man. He then proceeded to trap Dilruwan Perera in front of the wicket to finish with four wickets in the innings.
The off-spinner is quickly turning into Bangladesh's leading spinner in Tests.
#3 Nirosha Dickwella entertains
Some batsmen do not change their style of batting whatever the format is. Nirosha Dickwella, Sri Lanka's wicket-keeper batsman is one such player. A flamboyant player, who relies on hand-eye coordination, Dickwella was picked as the keeper for the first Test.
The southpaw had a set Kusal Mendis for company when he walked to the wicket and proceeded to play his shots. A whipped six off Subashis Roy followed by a reverse-swept four off Shakib-al-Hasan took him past his half-century.
Dickwella was eventually dismissed for 75 off 76 balls as he tried to hit Mehedi Hasan out of the ground. The flighted delivery and line of the ball took him by surprise but he went ahead with the shot only to be caught at short third man.
#2 Dilruwan Perera's third Test fifty
Sri Lanka went into this game with just six frontline batsmen. They knew that if a collapse ensued they would have very few options in the lower order. But one of them, Dilruwan Perera, is no mug with the bat.
The off-spinner is a decent batsman and was tasked with batting at seven, one ahead of his usual position. As if to justify the six batsmen ploy and the faith in him, Perera slammed his third Test half-century to take Sri Lanka very close to 500.
A six and a couple of fours off Mehedi Hasan showed that he was one of the few to read the Bangladesh off-spinner. But eventually, Mehedi had the last laugh as Perera was trapped in front to an arm ball.
#1 Bangladesh openers ride their luck to post century stand
Tamim Iqbal and Soumya Sarkar started off on a fine note for the Bangladeshis by negotiating the opening bowlers. Sarkar had his share of luck when Dilruwan Perera put down an easy catch off Suranga Lakmal.
But the openers grew in confidence from then on, putting on a half-century stand to disrupt Sri Lanka's plans of getting early breakthroughs. Both Tamim and Sarkar began briskly and continued to score freely even when the spinners came on.
Dickwella put down another chance to get rid of Tamim to worsen matters. However, the breakthrough eventually came when the left-hander ran himself out.
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