Bangladesh vs Sri Lanka: 1st Test, Day 4: 5 Talking Points

On Day four of the ongoing 1^st test between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh at Galle, rain once again acted as a curmudgeon denying Sri Lanka the precious last few overs to bowl today. They could have claimed a few early wickets of Bangladesh but bad light stopped the play. Now the match has moved to its final day with Bangladesh still need 390 runs to win this match. However, no team has ever chased down more than 418 runs in the fourth innings ever in the cricket history.

Earlier, Sri Lanka started off their 2^nd innings with a handy 182-run lead. Thanks to flamboyant batting by the left-handed Upul Tharanga (115) in the opening slot, and some sensible batting by Chandimal (50*) in the middle order saw Lankans declaring their innings on 274 for 6. They gave an impossible target of 457 to Bangladesh to win the 1^st Test.

Here are the 5 talking points of the day:

#1) Upal Tharanga Hits Century:

The dashing southpaw batted brilliantly today hitting a well-crafted 115 (171b, 4s x 11, 6s x 2). His innings was definitely the highlight of the rain-curtailed Day 4. He hit a variety of shots across the ground including 2 big sixes off Mehedi Hasan and Shakib Al Hasan respectively. However, he couldn’t prolong his innings more and was clean bowled off Mehedi Hasan at 55^th over as Sri Lanka lost their third wicket for 198 runs.

#2) Karunaratne Failed Again:

Sri Lanka’s opener Karunaratne has failed once again. Karunaratne scored just 32 runs today from 73 balls when the team had expected him to play faster. Unfortunately, he got out just when he tried to accelerate the pace of his innings. The opener has now got the scores of 5, 43, 24, 6, 0, 50, 30 and 32 in the last few innings that he played so far. The team had expected lots more of him as he got just one half-century in the last eight innings.

#3) Dinesh Chandimal Shines:

Sri Lankan batting mainstay Dinesh Chandimal played an unbeaten knock of 50* of 75 balls with four hits to the fence. He played a good knock and stayed unbeaten till the end despite wickets kept falling from the other end. The innings will definitely boost his confidence as it his first fifty in the last 9 innings that he played.

#4) Perera’s Blitzkrieg:

Dilruwan Perera once again hit a blitzkrieg knock of 33 off 27 balls with 5 boundaries and 1 six. His strike rate was above 120 and timed the balls with perfect ease. He added a vital 52-run partnership for the sixth wicket with Chandimal as Sri Lanka took the lead 450 par. With the dismissal of Perera edging a catch to Liton Das off Mustafizur – Sri Lanka declared their innings on 274/6.

#5) Bangladesh Opening Stand:

It doesn’t matter for how long the Bangla duo will continue when the match progresses on to its final day, surely, both Sarkar and Iqbal had saved the Day 4 without losing any wicket. The left-handed Soumya Sarkar was particularly brilliant hitting a quick fifty off just 44 balls. Tamim Iqbal supported him well from the other end. Both batsmen negotiated the last few overs of the Day 4 carefully before bad light stopped the play.