Bangladesh were 12 for no loss after Sri Lanka declared with a lead of 466 runs with eight over remaining before stumps on day four of the second Test at the Zohur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium on Friday.
Tamim Iqbal (7) and Shamsur Rahman (4) will start the morning initiations after having survived the last eight overs without damage.
Bangladesh require 455 more runs to win on the final day, Saturday.
Earlier, Dinesh Chandimal (100*) held one end firmly to see Sri Lanka across the 450-run lead with Angelo Mathews (43*).
Sri Lanka skipper Angelo Mathews declared right after Chandimal got to his third Test century off 178 with only four boundaries. His fourth wicket partnership with Kumar Sangakkara was worth 145 runs.
Finally, he also paired with the skipper for a 82 run fifth-wicket partnership to extend the lead.
Kumar Sangakkara (105) was again the star of the day, becoming the second batsman to score a century after a triple century in the same Test after Graham Gooch, who holds the highest runs scored in a Test match (456)
Sangakkara, achieving the highest runs scored by a Sri Lankan batsman in a Test match (424) surpassing Mahela Jayawardena (307), was bowled by Shohag Gazi in the final session of the day.
He cracked Shohag Gazi for a six to bring up his 35th Test fifty. To the hosts’ terrible disappointment, Sangakkara was dropped on 36 at deep midwicket by Nasir Hossain off Shakib Al Hasan.
Mahela Jayawardena (11), the only batsman to be sent back in the second session, was given lbw off Shakib Al Hasan in a delivery that pitched within the stumps but appeared to have drifted down the leg. The umpire might have sealed his fate as the ball had straightened slightly after pitching.
Mahmudullah had a great first session, sending both the openers back before 50 runs on board.
He struck in the 13th over, dismissing Dimuth Karunaratne (15). Nasir Hossain grabbed a spectacular catch at slip.
Mahmudullah struck again in his next over, trapping first Test centurion Kaushal Silva (29) leg before wicket.
Morning’s play resumed with Bangladesh on 409 for eight. The hosts were bowled out after adding just 17 runs to their overnight score to finish the innings on 426.
Hosts’ innings survived 29 balls in the morning. After Mahmudullah was sent packing in the first over of the morning, Tigers chances of putting up a bigger score dimmed.
Ajantha Mendis dismissed Mahmuddullah, caught by Silva at short leg. He struck again in his very next over, sending back Al-Amin Hossain (9) to secure a hefty 161-run lead.
Mendis was most successful among the visiting bowlers with a career-best six-wicket haul spending just 99 runs.
Source: Bd news24
