Sri Lanka claw back after Mushfiqur 163, Litton 90

Mushfiqur Rahim, Najmul Hossain Shanto and Litton Das scored 401 runs among them, but the complexion of the game changed after a two-hour rain interruption as Sri Lanka came roaring back late in the day, to leave Bangladesh on 484 for 9 at stumps of day two in Galle.

It meant the 20.4 overs bowled in the final session saw five wickets fall for 61 runs, and resulted in a dramatic Bangladesh collapse following two mammoth back-to-back stands - 264 and 149 - between Shanto and Mushfiqur, and then Mushfiqur and Litton.

Milan Rathnayake, who had toiled with little reward, was the chief beneficiary of the rain break. His 22.4 overs went for just 38 runs, but once some moisture had returned to the surface, he became instrumental, running through the lower order and tail.

Jaker Ali was his first victim, when an 123kph inswinger snuck through his defences. He then got one to seam away from Nayeem Hasan, who edged behind, before angling one into Taijul Islam and castling him.

Asitha Fernando, meanwhile, was responsible for breaking both monster partnerships. Shanto had chipped a drive to mid-off in the morning session, and then late in the day Asitha angled one back into Mushfiqur to trap him leg before - a decision that was held up upon referral on umpire's call.

Debutant Tharindu Rathnayake, meanwhile, frustrated Litton Das with defensive leg-stump lines, which eventually resulted in an ill-judged reverse sweep that popped up for Kusal Mendis to come around and grab.

In terms of a mood-shifting session, Sri Lanka couldn't have asked for more, particularly as for most of the day it looked like Bangladesh would continue to pile on the runs in the aim of batting just once this Test.

Up until the rain break - and a little after that - rather than Bangladesh getting bowled out, the more immediate prospect seemed to be of them reaching 550, or possibly 600.

Sri Lanka had had their chances, but none truly clear cut. Either side of the morning drinks break there were run-out opportunities that went begging. The first a result of the throw being sent to the wrong end, the second a missed direct hit.

The very next over, Mushfiqur took on Prabath Jayasuriya, and laced one inches over his head. By the time Prabath put his hands up, the ball had already passed - a half-chance at best. Then at the start of the next over, Litton shanked one low and hard to midwicket, where Pathum Nissanka couldn't hold on.

Milan, who had exited the field earlier in the day with a seeming muscle strain, was back in action after lunch and his persistence seemed to have paid off when he eventually drew a false stroke from Mushfiqur, jagging one back from a good length between bat and pad. The ball struck the back pad in front of middle stump and Milan set off on a celebrappeal. Except the umpire was unmoved.

The instant review from Sri Lanka showed that the ball had deviated just enough to be hitting the wickets, but not enough to overturn the umpire's call. The look of frustration, disbelief and defeat on the Sri Lankan faces told a story.

The rain came shortly after, and Sri Lanka were forced to sit with that feeling. It was particularly galling in that, at the start of the day, Asitha had similarly trapped Shanto, and that time the finger had gone up only for the DRS to reveal there was some bat involved.

But with a change in weather, so did Sri Lanka's fortunes shift. Litton took it up himself to up the tempo, targeting Prabath in particular - the highlight a pair of delectable late cuts. Mushfiqur however was being kept quiet at the other end, and that allied with some tiredness was probably what led to his dismissal.

Perhaps, in hindsight, Bangladesh may also wonder if they should have pressed the scoring rate a little higher when so little was on offer for the bowlers for most of the day. But as it was, Sri Lanka stuck to steady lines and lengths and Bangladesh were happy to proceed at a scoring rate of around three an over. To put it into context, Australia had earlier this year romped at roughly four an over in Galle to really put the pressure on the bowlers.

There were periods to be fair when Bangladesh would seek to up the scoring, with Litton in particular happy to take on the bowling - the last ten overs prior to lunch for example went at five an over - but such periods were few and far between and it meant the scoreboard ticked along steadily, but not at a rate Sri Lanka would have been unduly concerned by.

In the end it meant the batting line-up apart from Litton, Mushfiqur and Shanto has been limited to 68 runs.