Lunch Bangladesh 361 for 9 (Mushfiqur 171*, Rajitha 5-62, Fernando 4-93) vs Sri Lanka

When Fernando took the ninth wicket in the minute before lunch was scheduled, the umpires decided to extend the session by half an hour, to give Sri Lanka the chance to wrap the innings up. Thanks to Mushfiqur, who progressed to 171 not out, and Ebadot Hossain, who resisted for 16 deliveries, the hosts’ innings survived into another session.

Spreading the field for Mushfiqur, trying to keep Ebadot on strike, bowling bouncers, bowling yorkers, the spinners trying to dart balls into his pads or the stumps – none of this worked for Sri Lanka. Mushfiqur, who has barely made a mistake right through his 339-ball stay, seemed both immovable, and determined to continue frustrating the opposition.

It was in the seventh over of the day that Rajitha finally broke Bangladesh’s epic sixth-wicket stand. The seamers having conceded only two boundaries (one of which came from an outside edge) in the first six overs, Rajitha delivered a length ball in the channel outside off, which Litton Das prodded at and sent off the outside edge to second slip. Kusal Mendis, who had recovered from the chest pains that saw him hospitalised on day one, took an excellent catch diving forward to end Litton’s innings for 141. He had only added six to his overnight score.

Three balls later, Rajitha struck again, shaping the second new ball away from left-hander Mosaddek Hossain to have him caught behind. Rajitha had easily been Sri Lanka’s best bowler in the innings, probing the channel consistently. Mosaddek’s wicket completed a much-deserved five-for.

With his last recognised batting partner now out, Mushfiqur then raised the tempo, seeking out scoring opportunities more proactively than he had been previously in the innings. The first reverse-sweep of his knock came in the 99th over, delivered by Ramesh Mendis. He got four for that shot, and four for the next one too – this a beautifully-timed cover drive. He continued to be busy at the crease, and forged a 49-run eighth wicket stand with Taijul Islam, whose contribution was 15 off 37. Mushfiqur made 34 off 42, and crossed 150 during that partnership. Of his nine triple-figure scores, five have now been in excess of 150.

Fernando then struck twice in quick succession with the bouncers he has been trying since the first afternoon. He got one to rear up on Taijul, the batter managing only to get the ball to deflect off his gloves and to the wicketkeeper as he attempted to protect his head. Next over, Khaled Ahmed also sent a throat-high bouncer to the wicketkeeper of his gloves. Ebadot Hossain just managed to get himself and his equipment out of the way of Fernando’s short deliveries, while Mushfiqur turned down singles and attempted to farm the strike in the last half hour.

Sri Lanka had one opportunity to end the innings, when Ebadot was desperately trying to get back on strike towards the end of an over (the ball had gone for byes and they were running two). But the throw from Fernando at fine leg was poor, and Dimuth Karunaratne did not collect the ball cleanly at the striker’s end.