In the last two overs before the lunch break of day three of the second Test in Kandy, Bangladesh lost Saif Hassan and Najmul Hossain Shanto for 25 and a duck, respectively.
However, right before their departure, Tamim Iqbal registered his third consecutive fifty in the series. At lunch, Bangladesh were 99 for two in 27 overs.
Sri Lanka posted 493 for seven before declaring their first innings.
This was after Taskin Ahmed removed Pathum Nissanka in the morning. It was the fourth wicket for the right-arm pacer.
Bangladesh started to reply strongly as Tamim continued on his superb form. There was an lbw appeal off the second ball of the innings but the review suggested that the batsman was not-out. Soon, Tamim smashed a four off Suranga Lakmal.
Tamim completed his fifty off 54 balls. He also recorded a fifty in each innings of the first Test at the same venue.
Bangladesh were so close to going to lunch without losing any wicket. But in the second last over before the lunch break, Saif fell prey to debutant left-arm spinner Praveen Jayawickrama. It was a flighted delivery going away and Saif tried to defend it but failed to avoid an edge to the gully.
Off the last ball before lunch, Najmul was removed by offspinner Ramesh Mendis. The lefthander tried to defend the ball but failed to judge the turn and managed a thick edge to the slip fielder.
Earlier, Sri Lankan openers— Dimuth Karunarate and Lahiru Thirimanne— hit a century each in the first innings of the match after choosing to bat first winning the toss. Oshada Fernando and Niroshan Dickwella also did well with the bat. They scored 81 and 77 not-out, respectively.
For Bangladesh, Taskin bagged four wickets conceding 127 runs, which is now the best bowling figures for the right-arm pacer, while Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Shoriful Islam and Taiju Islam took one wicket each.
