Tamim 82 sets up Bangladesh's 191 chase

Tea Bangladesh 467 and 156 for 4 (Tamim 82, Perera 2-45) need 35 more to beat Sri Lanka 338 and 319 (Karunaratne 126, Shakib 4-74)
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Tamim Iqbal produced a fine 82 to push Bangladesh closer to a series-levelling win © AFP

By tea on the final day, Bangladesh were in prime position to pick up their maiden Test win over Sri Lanka. They went into the break at 156 for 4, requiring a further 35 to complete the chase. Shakib Al Hasan and Mushfiqur Rahim were the unbeaten batsmen at the crease.

Resuming on 38 for two after lunch, Tamim Iqbal and Sabbir Rahman counter-attacked with several high-percentage shots. When they were not launching into lavish drives and reverse-sweeps, they banked heavily on singles and twos. Most importantly, the bedrock was their defensive technique against quality bowling, a factor easily ignored by Bangladeshi batsmen in similar situations.

Tamim started off the session with an inside-out carve over cover against the spin of Dilruwan Perera, before Sabbir brought out the reverse-sweep. Tamim followed suit, reversing Herath before he was hammered through the covers by Sabbir.

Tamim reached his fifty off 87 balls, and then got stuck into Herath, hammering him over extra cover and long-on, hitting one of the corporate boxes on the second floor. He struck two more fours before skying one to mid-on where Dinesh Chandimal ran backwards to complete a stunning catch. One risk too many, but Tamim’s innings got Bangladesh within 60 runs of the win.

Sabbir was dismissed soon after Tamim, given out by the third umpire who overturned the on-field umpire’s not-out decision after Sri Lanka reviewed the lbw appeal.

Bangladesh had gone into the second session having lost two wickets. Soumya Sarkar and Imrul Kayes fell off consecutive deliveries to Hearth. Soumya holed out to an unnecessary shot at long-off, before Imrul edged to slip next ball.

This after Sri Lanka had extending their overnight score of 268 for 8, to 319, bowled out after the first hour. Dilruwan and Suranga Lakmal added 80 runs for the ninth wicket. Both fell within five balls of each other; Lakmal made 42 off 48 balls while Dilruwan’s vigil of 174 balls produced 50 runs.

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Source: ESPN Crickinfo