Nissanka's 187 leads Sri Lanka's strong reply

A Pathum Nissanka-led fightback ensured Sri Lanka ended Day 3 of the first Test in Galle against Bangladesh on 368/4. The opener registered his first Test century at home, and third overall, and was well supported by Dinesh Chandimal (54) in a second-wicket stand of 157 runs. The hosts still trail Bangladesh by 127 runs.

Bangladesh began with a four behind the wickets through Hasan Mahmud, and tried he to farm the strike against No.11 Nahid Rana. But with three balls to face in the third over of the day, Rana was strangled down legside by Asitha Fernando as Bangladesh ended their first innings score five runs shy of the 500 mark. It also meant that Prabath Jayasuriya went wicketless on a ground where he has a lot of fortune.

Nissanka and debutant Lahiru Udara came out to bat, with the two being the first right-handed opening combination for Sri Lanka after 30 years. Udara got his and his team's innings underway with a thick edge between the slips and gully. Udara was particularly aggressive in the first 10 overs playing some elegant flicks and scored six boundaries as Sri Lanka raced to 47. But against the run of play, the debutant gave a return catch to Taijul Islam which cut his innings short to 29.

Nissanka had been watchful in the early part of the innings and clubbed Taijul for two fours on the onside, as his innings began to gain impetus. Bangladesh brought spin on both ends with the introduction of Nayeem Hasan, the offspinner, towards Lunch but the hosts capitalised on some loose balls to score some late boundaries in the session.

The early part of the second session saw Nissanka bring up his 50 while Chandimal continued to toy with Nayeem, scoring boundaries frequently with cuts and sweeps. Then Chandimal brought up the 100 partnership with a streaky boundary. Nissanka followed it up with three fours in the next over off Taijul in a 14-run over. He then clubbed Taijul with a slog sweep over wide long-on as he soared into the nineties. He pulled Rana to the fence to move to 99 and brought up his 100 with a single two balls later. Even after reaching the milestone, Nissanka was dominant against the young Rana with two boundaries in an over.

Chandimal brought up his 33rd Test 50 but fell soon after, nicking one behind to leg-slip. But Angelo Matthews, in his last Test, resisted Bangladesh from getting further inroads with a dogged 39 off 69 balls. He slog-swept Taijul for six towards the Tea break as Sri Lanka plundered 133 runs in the second session.

The same script followed after the break, with the duo constantly finding the fence with ease. Nissanka was deft in guiding the ball behind the wicket off Nayeem while he successfully took on Taijul down the ground. The batter then reached 150 before toying with Rana yet again on a tiring day for the Bangladesh bowlers. The 89-run stand was broken when Matthews nicked one to Litton Das off Mominul Haque, giving Bangladesh a breather. The visitors continued to stick with the spinners despite the new ball being due but worked to no avail.

But, immediately once the new cherry was taken, Nissanka was castled by a superb inswinger from Mahmud, falling short of his 200 by an agonising 13 runs. Kamindu Mendis and Dhananjaya de Silva then saw out the day's play with relative ease to round off a productive day for the hosts

Brief Scores: Bangladesh 495 (Mushfiqur Rahim 163, Najmul Hossain Shanto 148, Litton Das 90; Asitha Fernando 4-86, Milan Rathanayake 3-38) lead Sri Lanka 368/4 (Pathum Nissanka 187, Dinesh Chandimal 54; Mominul Haque 1-24, Hasan Mahmud 1-49) by 127 runs.