Sri Lanka bowlers keep Bangladesh in check at tea

Tea Bangladesh 144 for 5 (Mushfiqur 34, Mehidy 0*) vs Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka made inroads after lunch picking up three more Bangladesh wickets in a rain-affected session, though Bangladesh had briefly countered through 67-run stand between Mushfiqur Rahim and Litton Das.

But the hour of play after the break could have gone even better for Sri Lanka had Lahiru Udara held on at deep midwicket to an aerial slog sweep from Mushfiqur, or if Prabath Jayasuriya had gone with two hands instead of one, also at deep midwicket, when trying to catch one on the run off Litton.

And then about 10 minutes prior to tea, Litton miscued one straight into the sky, but a backtracking Jayasuriya was unable to get to the ball in time as it fell in the vacant mid-on region. It seemed like Sri Lanka were just not getting the rub of the green, but then five minutes before the tea interval, debutant Sonal Dinusha got the breakthrough.

Litton attempted to cut one that was a little too close to cut, and edged to through to Kusal Mendis, who juggled the ball a couple of times before eventually holding on. It would have brought Sri Lanka a modicum of relief, having dropped so many chances prior.

There were four missed catching opportunities in the innings total, though the first - off Anamul Haque - didn't prove costly, as he was dismissed a short while later without troubling the scorers. Sri Lanka have also had a couple of edges go safely through the slip cordon, most notably off Mushfiqur, while they also missed a run out chance off Shadman Islam.

Shadman had eventually fallen in the 40 minutes of play between lunch and the rain break, four runs short of his second straight half century. More than the delivery itself, which was tossed up full and wide, it was the catch - travelling quickly at head height above the right shoulder - from Dhananjaya de Silva that made the wicket.

It was Tharindu Rathnayake's first wicket of the innings, to cap an improved showing after lunch following a fairly inconsistent period in the morning session. Though he might have had a couple more, with both Mushfiqur and Litton dropped off his bowling.

An over prior to that, Vishwa was rewarded for his patient lines outside off, getting Najmul Hossain Shanto to push out at one around a fifth stump line. The edge was taken and Kusal Mendis behind the stumps did the rest.

Sri Lanka had been consistent in their lines and lengths most of the day, and it meant that having won the toss, Bangladesh proceeded cautiously. The visitors were content to wait for the bad deliveries, while Sri Lanka too were keeping things simple.

Once Anamul fell early, Shadman and Mominul Haque had put on a stand of 38 to steady the innings, only for Mominul to fall against the run of play, chipping a gentle off break outside off straight to short cover.

The pair had done well up until then to weather whatever lateral movement was on offer early on, and had just about begun to take on the bowling prior to the wicket. But on the whole, Bangladesh's scoring rate was kept below three an over, with the Lankan bowlers showing plenty of discipline. Only the initiative shown by Litton and Mushfiqur has helped Bangladesh at least attempt to revert some pressure on to the Sri Lankan bowlers.