Bangladesh slide to 24 for 5 before Litton-Mushfiqur rebuild
On a Mirpur deck offering a touch of movement off the surface, Sri Lanka's two quicks - Kasun Rajitha and Asitha Fernando - bulldozed their way through the Bangladesh top order, leaving them gasping at 24 for 5 inside the first seven overs of the second and final Test.
Rajitha angled the ball in from either side of the wicket to attack the batters' stumps, bowling especially well against Bangladesh's left-handers. Fernando tested both edges and caused trouble with the little movement he gleaned off the pitch. Together, they put together 40 minutes of bowling that could define the series. Rajitha's take for the morning was 3 for 16 from eight overs; Fernando's was 2 for 26 from eight.
Bangladesh needed a major rebuild, and they got the makings of one through Mushfiqur Rahim and Litton Das, who strung together a 42-run stand and ensured that no further wickets fell before lunch. It's just as well Bangladesh bolstered their batting for this match, bringing in batting allrounder Mosaddek Hossain for the injured Nayeem Hasan. Sri Lanka's spinners were also unable to impose themselves as yet - Praveen Jayawickrama did not gain a lot of turn, and even Ramesh Mendis, who imparts more sidespin than Jayawickrama, delivered an unremarkable first over.
Rajitha set the collapse in motion as early as the second ball. Bowling from wide of the crease, he got the ball to straighten slightly off the pitch, and whizz between the bat and pad of Mahmudul Hasan Joy, whose off stump was flattened. Rajitha would also get two left-handers off successive balls with roughly this strategy, only from around the wicket. In the seventh over of the innings, he tempted Najmul Hossain Shanto into a big drive, and took down his off stump as well. Next ball, he angled one into the pads of Shakib Al Hasan, who played around it and was given out lbw - a decision that was upheld upon review.
Fernando's wickets, meanwhile, did not follow so close a pattern. He skidded one at Tamim Iqbal in the second over, and the batter sent a leading edge to point, where Jayawickrama took a good diving catch. Tamim had been looking to whip that ball to the legside. Bangladesh's struggling captain Mominul Haque was Fernando's next victim. Poking at a length ball outside off, Mominul sent a thin edge to the wicketkeeper, and was out for nine. This was his sixth consecutive single-figure score, and the seventh in eight innings.
Mushfiqur and Litton saw out the back end of the opening bowlers' spells, then began to appear a little more comfortable at the crease as the session wore on, particularly against spin. Their partnership suggested there were no terrors in the surface for the batters. Bangladesh may reflect that the disastrous first 40 minutes was down partly to loose batting in the face of probing seam bowling.
Litton went to lunch on 26 off 54, with four fours to his name. Mushfiqur was on 22 off 47.
Source: ESPNcricinfo
