On the third day of the first Test in Sylhet, Kamindu Mendis (164) and Dhananjaya de Silva (108) scored their respective second tons in the game, while Vishwa Fernando (3-13) spearheaded a barrage of late ball hits to edge Bangladesh closer to a crushing defeat. Bangladesh were faltering at 47/5 at stumps on the third day, well short of the enormous goal of 511.
After losing nightwatch Fernando with just seven runs scored to the overnight total, Sri Lanka resumed the day at 119/5. Bangladesh would have been optimistic about their ability to keep Sri Lanka’s total to a reasonable level at 126/6. But much as in the opening inning, de Silva and Kamindu united to form a rearguard. Together, they quickly put up 173 runs for the seventh wicket, smashing Bangladesh’s spirits. The hosts began to lose control of the ball as the stand went on and gave up easy runs. In a Test match, De Silva made history as the first Sri Lankan skipper to score two tons, and Kamindu became the nation’s quickest scorer.
Upon de Silva’s dismissal, the lead had gradually approached 400 runs. After he and Prabath Jayasuriya added 67 runs to extend the lead above 500 runs, Kamindu made sure that Bangladesh would suffer much more. Bangladesh’s bowlers had a difficult time applying the same level of pressure that they were able to in the first innings. Mehidy Hasan Miraz (4–74) was the only one to achieve respectability through spell discipline.
The hosts would have preferred to reach stumps with the fewest number of wickets lost, considering they had a massive goal to pursue. Rather, Fernando caused a collapse by removing Mahmudul Hasan Joy in the opening over of the innings. Along with Litton Das and Shahadat Hossain, he also claimed a wicket each for Kasun Rajitha and Lahiru Kumara.
Brief scores: Bangladesh 188 and 47/5 (Vishwa Fernando 3-13) are trailed by 464 runs by Sri Lanka 280 and 418 (Kamindu Mendis 164, Dhananjaya de Silva 108, Mehidy Hasan Miraz 4-74).
