Day 2 of the Galle Test was an intriguing one where Bangladesh began well and drove home the advantage they had from yesterday. The first two sessions belonged to them with Mushfiqur Rahim and Litton Das surging the innings forward. But rain came and delayed proceedings for more than two hours.
In the final session, Sri Lanka pegged things back with regular wickets and kept Bangladesh under 500. They are 484/9 with two tail-enders batting in Nahid Rana and Hasan Mahmud. But the damage seems to have been done as Bangladesh have runs on the board and have their noses in front at this stage. It will take a herculean task for Sri Lanka to claw their way back in the match and try and save this match.
Morning Session: Shanto falls early; Rahim and Litton take Bangladesh towards a position of strength.Â
Bangladesh began the day at 292/3 in 90 overs with Najmul Hossain Shanto batting on 136* and Mushfiqur Rahim on 105*. The duo started the morning session well by playing the balls to the merit and completing the 250-run stand for the fourth wicket. Shanto survived a LBW call via a successful DRS but 6 overs later in the 97th over he fell to Asitha Fernando for 148 off 279 balls laced with 15 fours and a six. It was a fuller ball that Shanto chipped towards mid-off where Angelo Mathews took a good catch diving forward. It was the opening Sri Lanka needed at this stage. The duo had put up 264 runs for the fourth wicket when Shanto was dismissed.
Litton Das joined Mushfiqur Rahim at the crease and the duo slowly started to build a partnership to take the game away from Sri Lanka. The duo showed their experience out there and played the bowling comfortably. Sri Lanka did not help themselves either by missing out chances. Prabath Jayasuriya put down Mushfiqur Rahim off his own bowling which was a tough chance no doubt. Thereafter, a run out chance was missed with both batters at the same end but Sri Lanka blew that with a throw at the wrong end. Add to the woes, Litton Das was put down at short midwicket by Pathum Nissanka off Ratnayake.
Rahim and Litton made the most of these reprieves and took on the bowling. After getting lives both batters switched gears and piled on the runs as Sri Lanka’s bowlers and fielders showed tiredness. They scored 91 runs in 27 overs for the loss of one wicket. They took the score to 383/4 at Lunch on Day 2. Mushfiqur Rahim was batting on 141* while Litton Das was batting on 43* off 57 balls as he had switched gears.
Rahim and Litton keeps the scoreboard ticking before rain washes out the latter part of afternoon session.
Mushfiqur Rahim and Litton Das started on the right note and played some delightful shots. Litton was the aggressor of the two while Rahim held one end up. They made Sri Lanka pay for the dropped chances in the morning session. The hosts tried their best but with Milan Rathnayake walking off the field, it meant that the Lankans were a bowler short. This meant Bangladesh could attack more.
Litton Das completed his half century as Bangladesh added 40 more runs in 13.2 overs to be at 423/4 in 130.2 overs with one hour played after Lunch. That’s when the heavens opened up as the groundsmen covered the entire ground. A downpour followed for an hour and a half before it stopped causing a delay in proceedings for more than two hours.
Sri Lanka strike back with late wickets to peg Bangladesh back.Â
Play resumed after 2 hours and 30 minutes later at around 4.15 PM Local Time. The duo of Rahim and Litton started well and took the score beyond 450 in no time. Litton was as usual playing his shots while Rahim was playing second fiddle. They added 149 runs for the fifth wicket before Sri Lanka separated the pair. Rahim finally fell for 163 to Asitha Fernando after facing 350 balls laced with 9 fours. Litton Das fell an over later to Tharindu Ratnayake as the keeper batter fell 10 runs short of his century. He scored 90 which had 11 fours and one six to his name.
After the fall of these two wickets, the floodgates opened a tad for the bowling side. Jaker Ali was the next to go for 8 as he fell to Milan Rathnayake. Taijul Islam fell soon after for 6 to Milan as well while Nayeem fell for 11 to Milan as the young bowler recovered from injury to take three wickets. The umpires called for Bad Light at 6 PM Local Time with the score reading 484/9 in 151 overs with Hasan Mahmud and Nahid Rana at the crease. Asitha Fernando, Milan Rathnayake and Tharindu Ratnayake bagged three wickets apiece. No wickets for Prabath Jayasuriya despite bowling for 48 overs which is a rarity at Galle.
What Lies Ahead on Day 3.Â
For starters, due to the loss of time play will start 15 minutes early to try and make up for lost time. It will be interesting to see Bangladesh’s approach. Whether they come out to bat with 10 and 11 batting or whether they declare overnight. If they come out to bat, they will aim to get to the 500-run mark. Sri Lanka, on the other hand, will want to take the last remaining wicket soon and then have a challenge ahead of them. They have to bat well and time to come back in the Test match. A Bangladesh win or draw looks the likely outcome, but stranger things have happened before in cricket.
Let’s hope that the rain stays away and we get a full day’s play. An interesting moving day awaits us all with the pitch deteriorating as well. Let’s see how things pan out when Day 3 commences.
Also Read: SL vs BAN: Najmul Hossain Shanto’s 136 & Mushfiqur Rahim’s 105 Dominate Sri Lanka