Litton and Mushfiqur hit contrasting fifties to bring Bangladesh back

Mushfiqur Rahim and Litton Das raised Bangladesh out of the pit they had stumbled into, with an as-yet unbeaten 129-run partnership, on a flattening Mirpur track.

The pair had come together with the score on 24 for 5 inside the first seven overs of the match, and set about sagely navigating the seamers' tough early spells. They survived till lunch, then consolidated in the afternoon session. Litton was dropped on 47 as the quicks attacked with the short ball, but aside from this, there were no serious indiscretions from the pair. Litton went to tea on 72 off 125 balls, and Mushfiqur on 62 off 156. With another batter in Mosaddek Hossain to come, Bangladesh could dream of a competitive first-innings total.

Earlier in the day, Kasun Rajitha and Asitha Fernando had decked the Bangladesh top order with probing new-ball spells, which was met with some indisciplined batting. Rajitha angled balls into the stumps from wide of the crease to claim three wickets in his first four overs, while Fernando, too, attacked the stumps, and claimed two wickets in quick succession.

At that stage, Bangladesh were at serious risk of collapsing to a double-digit total. However, Sri Lanka's spinners were not particularly effective at imposing themselves on a pitch that had not begun to turn for them yet. Left-arm spinner Praveen Jayawickrama was disciplined in his 21 overs, but did not really create serious chances. Ramesh Mendis was expensive, giving away 29 runs from his six overs.

Litton, by a distance the most aggressive of the Bangladesh pair, prospered heavily on the leg side, especially as he was unafraid of using the pull when Sri Lanka attempted to bounce him out. Seven of his ten boundaries came in the arc between fine leg and deep midwicket, and 52 of his 72 on the leg side. His battle with Fernando made for absorbing viewing in the afternoon session, with Fernando intent on peppering him, and Litton refusing to put away the pull. Fernando would have been the victor in this contest had Kamindu Mendis held a difficult, top-edged chance, running back from backward square-leg.

Mushfiqur, meanwhile, was much more content to attack only the serious errors in line and length, scoring the majority of his runs and boundaries through the off side. He progressed to his 27th half-century, and his ninth against Sri Lanka - an opponent he frequently makes runs against.

Early in the day, Rajitha had set the morning's collapse in motion as early as on the second ball. Bowling from wide of the crease, he got the ball to straighten slightly off the pitch, to 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 leg side. 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. 

Source: ESPNcricinfo