Day 4 of the first Test in Galle saw a lot more action as there was a balance between the bat and ball. 9 wickets fell in the day. Nayeem Hasan grabbed the limelight with his maiden away five wicket haul as Bangladesh eked out a 10-run lead and ended the day at 177/3 in 57 overs with a lead of 187 runs and a day’s play left.
Sri Lanka resuming at 368/4 in 93 overs lost Dhananjaya de Silva and Kusal Mendis early before Kamindu Mendis had Milan Rathnayake for company and added 79 runs to take Sri Lanka to 465/6 trailing by 30 runs. Thereafter, in the second session Sri Lanka lost 4/20 to be bowled out for 485 and conceding a 10-run lead to Bangladesh. Bangladesh lost Anamul Haque cheaply again while Mominul went for 14. Shadman Islam scored 76 while Shanto and Rahim remained unbeaten on 56 and 22 respectively to put Bangladesh ahead in the contest.
Dhananjaya and Kusal falls cheaply; Kamindu and Milan steady the ship in the morning session.Â
Day 4 started with Sri Lanka at 368/4 still trailing by 127 runs with 6 wickets in hand. Kamindu Mendis and Dhananjaya de Silva resumed for Sri Lanka. It didn’t take long for the first wicket to fall for the day as Nayeem Hasan got rid of the Sri Lankan captain Dhananjaya de Silva for 19. Bangladesh were over the moon with that start. Kusal Mendis came and did not last long as he fell for 5 to Hasan Mahmud. It was a delivery down the leg side which Kusal tried to glance it away and got a tickle down to Litton who dived to his left and took a solid catch. The score was 386/6 in 101 overs at that stage.
Thereafter, Kamindu Mendis was joined by an able partner in Milan Rathnayake. The duo initially weathered the storm and built the partnership gradually. Kamindu completed his half century off 86 balls and Milan played his natural game as Bangladesh let the game drift a tad bit with defensive strategies. Sri Lanka came back well in the session after losing those two early wickets as the duo added 79 runs to take the score to 465/6 in 124 overs. Kamindu Mendis got himself upto 83* off 139 balls while Milan Rathnayake got himself to 38* off 76 balls as Sri Lanka went into Lunch just 30 runs shy of Bangladesh’s first innings score with 4 wickets in hand.
Nayeem Hasan completes his five-wicket haul
At the start of the afternoon session, Sri Lanka were the favourites to get a first innings lead. But all that was about to change as Bangladesh came roaring back into the contest and caused Sri Lanka to collapse.
Hasan Mahmud broke the partnership of 84 runs off 153 balls by dismissing Milan Rathnayake for 39 off 83 balls laced with 3 fours and 1 six as he tried to pull a ball that was not short enough as the ball dragged back onto the stumps. Nayeem Hasan bowled a beautiful ball to get rid of Kamindu Mendis for 87 off 148 balls which was laced with 8 fours and a six. He nicked it to the keeper.
In the same over, Nayeem Hasan got rid of Tharindu Ratnayake for a duck as his stumps was castled. Nayeem Hasan completed his five-wicket haul by getting rid of Asitha Fernando for 4 as Asitha’s reverse sweep was missed and got castled at the stumps as Sri Lanka were bowled out for 485.
Nayeem Hasan was the pick of the bowlers with figures of 5/121 in 43.2 overs. He was ably supported by Hasan Mahmud who finished with figures of 3/74 in 21 overs. Taijul Islam was disappointing with his 1/156 in 41 overs while Mominul Haque picked up a wicket for 28 runs in 7 overs.
With a 10-run lead, Bangladesh came out to bat with openers Shadman Islam and Anamul Haque. Shadman started confidently while Anamul was tentative at the crease and somehow got off the pair. Shadman played some crisp shots but Anamul’s luck ran out at 4 as he was dismissed by Prabath Jayasuriya for 4.
Shadman and Mominul built up a nice stand to put the innings back on track. After adding 36 for the second wicket, Mominul who did all the hard work departed at the stroke of Tea as his sweep shot got off Tharindu Ratnayake a top edge deflecting on the helmet to the silly point fielder where Udara took the catch. Mominul fell for 14. Najmul Hossain Shanto joined Shadman in the middle and took the score to 65/2 in 22 overs with Shadman batting on 44* and Shanto on 2*. The lead was 75 at this stage. The session had 85 runs scored in 29.2 overs for the loss of six wickets.
Shadman Islam falls after scoring half-century; Shanto and Mushfiqur’s solid stand
Shadman Islam and Najmul Hossain Shanto resumed for Bangladesh and the aim was to build on the lead. They did that with flying colours. Shadman Islam completed his sixth Test fifty in 70 balls and looked good to get a big one. He was ably supported by Shanto as Sri Lanka got hardly any assistance from this docile pitch.
Both played the bowling easily according to the merit of the ball. After putting 68 runs off 145 balls, Shadman Islam was trapped in front off the bowling of Milan Rathnayake. He fell for 76 off 126 balls with 7 boundaries to his name. The score was 128/3 in 44.1 overs.
The heroes of the first innings were reunited again as Mushfiqur Rahim joined captain Najmul Hossain Shanto at the crease. The duo continued from where they left off in the first innings. Sri Lanka had half chances to separate them via run out chances but they couldn’t.
Najmul Hossain Shanto got to yet another fifty off 106 balls which follows a hundred in the first innings. It is his sixth Test fifty. When stumps was called Bangladesh were 177/3 in 57 overs with Najmul Hossain Shanto on 56* off 113 balls while Mushfiqur Rahim is with him on 22* off 43 balls. In the final session, 112 runs were scored in 35 overs for the loss of one wicket. Bangladesh won this session. A wicket apiece for Prabath Jayasuriya, Tharindu Ratnayake, and Milan Rathnayake.
What Lies Ahead on Day 5
It will be safe to say that Bangladesh have their noses in front at the end of the fourth day’s play. But with the pitch still looking good to bat on, a draw seems like the inevitable result unless something dramatic happens on Day 5. The lead is 187 runs and Bangladesh would like to score quickly and take the lead close to 300 before maybe declaring and having a crack at Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka will look to break this partnership and cause a collapse and then chase the target down. Both teams will try and go for the win.
But with the pitch playing decently and rain being always on the horizon, draw looks like the favoured outcome. Fortunately, there has been no rain in the last couple of days. The first session is crucial as that will give us an idea as to whether we will have a result or not. Let’s see how Day 5 pans out for us. It will be intriguing and interesting for us.
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