Bangladesh lost three wickets in the final four overs of the day as they moved from 192/2 to 214/5 at the close of play on Day 2 after they had bowled out Lanka for 338. Soumya Sarkar and Tamim Iqbal had spurred Bangladesh to a fine start but the fall of a cluster of wickets in the evening session handed the advantage to Sri Lanka at stumps.
Earlier, Dinesh Chandimal eased to a fine Test hundred with help from tail-enders, Rangana Herath and Suranga Lakmal as Sri Lanka added 100 to their overnight score. Bangladesh looked determined to bat with a clear mind as the openers yet again put on a half-century stand, their third 50+ stand in the series in three innings.
Tamim was a tad lucky to survive after Sri Lanka decided not to review decisions that would have sent him back. Herath finally had the left-hander LBW and Sarkar followed soon after to Sandakan's googly.
The delivery would go on to fetch the chinaman two more wickets before the close of play. In the interim, Sabbir Rehman and Imrul Kayes added 62 for the third wicket before the latter became the second to fall to Sandakan's googly.
Brief Scores: Sri Lanka 338/10 (Chandimal 138, Lakmal 35, Mehedi Hasan 3/90), Bangladesh 214/5 (Sarkar 61, Tamim 49, Sandakan 3/65)
Take a glance at the talking points from the day's play at Colombo.
#5 Herath and Lakmal help Chandimal
Dinesh Chandimal had quickly run out of partners on Day 1 when Sri Lanka lost most of their batsmen to some tight Bangladesh bowling.
Herath ensured that did not happen with a valiant effort on day one and it continued on day two as he occupied the crease and let Chandimal do the scoring. He was eventually dismissed by Shakib-al-Hasan but it only brought a dynamic Lakmal to the crease, who piled on the visitors’ agony.
He and Chandimal combined in an enterprising 55 run stand that took Sri Lanka past 300. But Mehedi Hasan brought an end to Chandimal's innings when he had the batsman sweeping to mid-wicket for 138.
#4 Chandimal takes Sri Lanka to a winning total
The Colombo stadium is famous for producing results. In fact, it hasn't seen a drawn Test in the last 14 years. The pitch has everything every kind of bowler dreams of. It swings on days one and two and as the game progresses the pitch takes a lot of turn, aiding the spinners.
On such a pitch batting last is no easy task unless you have the opposition on the mat which Bangladesh managed to do for a part of Day 1. But Dinesh Chandimal played a crucial knock in the company of the tailenders to take Lanka to 338, a handy total on this pitch.
Sri Lanka have some very experienced bowlers and Bangladesh need to at least match their total or better it to remain in the game. Such was the manner in which Chandimal batted that he wore down the visitor's attack after a point of time.
#3 Sri Lanka mess up DRS
Sri Lanka messed up opportunities to send back Tamim Iqbal early in his innings when they opted not to review two decisions against the opener, both of which would have altered the on-field umpire’s decision of not out.
As early as the third over, Lakmal produced a fine delivery that trapped Tamim on the pads. However, after a vociferous appeal, the Lankans decided not to review citing that the ball might have caught an inside edge. Replays concluded there was no edge and then the ball tracking showed three reds which would have sent Tamim on his way.
Later in the 19th over, off-spinner, Dilruwan Perera struck Tamim in front with a slider that bizarrely Lanka opted not to review even after appearing to be pretty confident with their appeal. Replays once again showed that Tamim was lucky to be on field.
Had the Lankans reviewed they wouldn't have witnessed yet another fine stand from the visitor's openers.
#2 Bangladesh openers sizzle yet again
After stands of 118 and 67 in the first Test, Tamim Iqbal and Soumya Sarkar once again got the Bangladeshis to a fine start with a 95 run opening partnership.
Tamim was the more entertaining of the duo, driving the fast bowlers down the ground and creaming Perera through the covers twice. Sarkar was happy to play second fiddle while he latched on to some loose ones from Gunaratne.
With a first innings total of 338 from Sri Lanka before them, Bangladesh needed yet another fine stand from the openers and the duo did not disappoint. The 95 run stand ended when skipper, Herath finally called for a review against Tamim who was trapped in front. Ball tracking showed three reds and the opener had to depart at the stroke of tea.
#1 Soumya Sarkar departs after a start yet again
Soumya Sarkar had publicly revealed that he was upset with his "soft dismissal" after the first innings of the first Test. However, he continued to mess up his starts even after that innings where he made 71.
In the second innings of that Test he made yet another half-century without converting it to a hundred and fell for 53. Here in Colombo, Sarkar had eased himself to a half-century along with Tamim Iqbal but looked bamboozled against Lakshan Sandakan.
The wily chinaman bowler mixed up his leg spinners with the googly and had Sarkar in all sorts of problems. The southpaw eventually missed a googly and was cleaned up by Sandakan for 61.
The Chinaman's googly went on to fetch two more wickets, that of Imrul Kayes and nightwatchman, Taijul Islam, of back to back deliveries shortly before the close of play.
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