Chandimal, Nissanka fifties send Sri Lanka off to a strong start

At tea, the hosts trail the Colombo Test by 57 runs with nine wickets in hand

Steady fifties from Pathum Nissanka and Dinesh Chandimal have seen Sri Lanka off to an impressive start to their first innings on the second day in the Colombo Test against Bangladesh.

The Tigers were unable to find momentum at their turn in bat, posting 247 in the first innings.

In contrast, the hosts have looked comfortable at the crease with Lahiru Udara (40), Nissanka (93*), and Chandimal (54*) racking up the runs on Thursday at the SCC.

At tea, Sri Lanka stood at 190 for 1, trailing Bangladesh by 57 runs.

Taijul Islam, who started the day with a brave stand at the tailend of the batting order, snatched the only breakthrough when he rapped Udara on the pads. Though the batsman was not initially judged out, a review found the ball hit the pad before the bat, leading to a dismissal.

Chandimal, next in the order, has had a couple of close scrapes, caught in front of the stumps by Nayeem Hasan and Taijul. But both cases turned out well for the hosts as Bangladesh lost a review.

Taijul (33) added a few runs to the overnight total with a late flurry in the first innings, but the Tigers’ lower order were unable to fend off the Sri Lankan attack in the morning, folding eight overs into the day.

Despite several dropped catches and other chances that went missing, Sri Lanka came out on top with the ball on the first day of the second Test, restricting the Tigers to 220 for 8.

Several Bangladeshi batsmen -– Shadman Islam (46), Mushfiqur Rahim (35), Litton Das (34), Mehidy Hasan Miraz (31) -– made respectable starts but were unable to capitalise on what was initially believed to be a batting-friendly pitch.

Instead, it was the bowlers who were in their element as Asitha Fernando, Vishwa Fernando, and debutant Sonal Dinusha each picked up a brace of wickets on the first day.

Pacer Asitha (3-51) added to his tally by picking off Ebadot Hossain in the early overs on Thursday while Dinusha (3-22) snapped up Taijul’s wicket to put a bow on a sparkling start to his Test career.

Brave performances from Captain Najmul Hossain Shanto, veteran Mushfiqur, and off-spinner Nayeem Hasan had given Bangladesh an edge in the first Test in Galle, but the two sides ended up battling to a draw.

Bangladesh won the toss on Wednesday and chose to bat.

If they win the match, it will be their first Test series victory in Sri Lanka.

Shanto -– who scored tons in both innings in Galle -– will be satisfied that Bangladesh’s World Test Championship campaign kicked off on a respectable note.