Bangladesh staring at heavy defeat

Bangladesh lost five wickets for 47 runs in 13 overs late on the third day of Sylhet Test, having been earlier set a victory target of 511 runs by Sri Lanka on Sunday.

Three of the batters departed without scoring as the hosts were reeling from the massive target set by the visitors. Desperately poor in technique against the new ball, two of their senior batters, namely Najmul Hossain and Liton Das -- tried to hit their way out of trouble, eventually perishing in ugly fashion,

Vishwa Fernando accounted for three of those dismissals while Kasun Rajitha and Lahiru Kumara took one wicket apiece.   

Bangladesh are still 463 runs behind the visitors, with two full days of play still remaining. 

Innings break

Kamindu Mendis notched his highest Test score of 164 as Sri Lanka posted 418 in their second innings of the Sylhet Test against Bangladesh on Sunday.

With skipper Dhananjaya de Silva also scoring a century, the Lankans are completely in the driver's seat with having set a massive 511-run target for Bangladesh.

There is still more than two days to negotiate for the hosts.

Mehedi Hasan Miraz took four wickets for Bangladesh while his spin-partner Taijul Islam took two.

Dhananjaya de Silva and Kamindu Mendis bump fists during their partnership. Photo: Firoz Ahmed

Tea, Day 3

Kamindu Mendis followed his captain Dhananjaya de Silva in picking up yet another century as Sri Lanka kept piling on the runs in the first Test in Sylhet against Bangladesh on Sunday.

Mendis was unbeaten on 100 as the visitors reached 338 for seven at Tea, a lead of 430 already. Prabath Jayasuriya was batting alongside him on 13.

This is the second century in the Test for the left-handed Mendis, who had scored 102 in the first innings. De Silva, meanwhile, departed for 108 to a Mehedi Hasan Miraz delivery. He, too, had scored 102 in the first innings.

This is only the third instance in Test cricket history that two batters have registered centuries in both innings of a match. 

Greg Chappell and Ian Chappell registered centuries in both innings of a Test match against New Zealand in 1974 while Misbah-ul Haque and Azhar Ali did the same thing against Australia in 2014. 

Lunch, Day 3

After forging a 202-run partnership and scoring centuries in the first innings, Sri Lanka skipper Dhananjaya de Silva and all-rounder Kamindu Mendis were at it again against Bangladesh in the second innings of the Sylhet Test on Sunday.

The two batters put on an unbroken partnership of 107 runs for the seventh wicket as Sri Lanka took their lead to 325 runs after the morning session on Day 3.

Dhananjaya de Silva and Kamindu Mendis bump fists during their partnership. Photo: Firoz Ahmed

At lunch, Sri Lanka were 233 for six in their second innings. The visitors had scored 280 in the first innings, with these two resurrecting the innings from 57 for five. They were in a similar situation in the second innings as well, losing six wickets for 126 runs.  

Dhananjaya was batting on 86 while Kamindu was unbeaten on 50. Both of them had scored 102 runs in their first innings as Sri Lanka took a 92-run lead against the hosts.

Khaled Ahmed got the only wicket for Bangladesh on the third day of the match so far, removing Vishwa Fernando for six early in the morning.