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Shakib Al Hasan and Ebadot Hossain shined on day three of the second Test of the series between Bangladesh and Sri Lanka at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium on Wednesday.
Sri Lanka were 282-5 at stumps on day three, trailing by 83 runs with five wickets in hand. Dinesh Chandimal was not out on 10, and Angelo Mathews was unbeaten on 58.
Rain interrupted the match two minutes before lunch and resumed at 4 PM, washing out the entire second session. The day’s play was extended to 6 PM, and for the fourth and fifth days, the match will start from 9:30 AM.
51 overs were bowled on day three, where Shakib and Ebadot carried the maximum workload. They were also the best performers for Bangladesh on the rain-soaked day.
Ebadot set the tone by taking the wicket of Kasun Rajitha on the second delivery of the day, the perfect one to knock out the nightwatchman.
Next to go was Dimuth Karunaratne, who was sensing a century. Shakib was bowling well but was also giving some loose deliveries, and the Sri Lankan captain hit a couple of boundaries against the left-arm spinner early in the morning.
But the one from Shakib, which took the bails off, was a gem. It was flighted and landed on the driving area but drifted inwards and hit the middle stump.
Two early wickets in the morning put Bangladesh back in the driving seat, but the rain break might have favoured Sri Lanka. Play resumed at 4 PM, and again, it was Shakib who broke the partnership between Dhananjaya De Silva and Angelo Mathews, who put together 102 for the fifth wicket.
A classic delivery from Shakib, angled in towards the right-hander and spun to brush the outside edge of Dhananjaya. Najmul Hossain Shanto watched it closely from the slip and insisted for a review despite Shakib being a bit confused. The DRS showed a spike, and Dhananjaya had to go for 58.
That was the last moment of joy for Bangladesh on day three. They could have the fourth wicket when Mathews miscued a short-delivery from Ebadot while attempting a pull shot and lifted the ball to square-leg, but Mushfiqur Rahim could not cover the ground as the ball dropped in front of him.
Allan Donald, the pace bowling coach of the Bangladesh cricket team feels that the pacers have managed to execute the plans well, but Taskin Ahmed could be a better option to have on such a flat wicket.
“Taskin is a great miss. He is a lovely kid. He has a serious-sized engine in him. You just know he will run through a wall for you. But sometimes someone missing a game is another one’s opportunity,” he told the media after the third day.
The former South African quick also praised Ebadot highly. He thinks the right-arm pacer could have easily had some more wickets.
“Ebadot was outstanding today. You know when you see someone in the warm-up, you know something about him will click today. The scoreboard doesn’t reflect the way he bowled today. He could have walked away with four or five wickets. That’s what the spell was worth,” Donald said about Ebadot.
The Protea legend also spoke very high of Shakib and expects that the all-rounder will take a five-wicket haul.
“Like Shane Warne, the guy is so experienced. He is well-travelled. He lands them on a string. He is a smart operator. He changes his pace really subtly. He showed again, chipped away. Hopefully, he walks away with a five-wicket haul tomorrow (today). It is awesome to have him on the team. His experience and leadership are priceless,” Donald said on Wednesday.
