Chittagong, May 18: Mushfiqur Rahim become the first Bangladesh batter to reach 5000 runs in Test cricket after scoring his eighth century in the format as Bangladesh stayed ahead of Sri Lanka at the end of Day four.
Mushfiqur’s knock of 105, along with Tamim Iqbal’s delightful 133, besides half-centuries from Litton Das and Mahmudul Hasan Joy saw Bangladesh declare their first innings at 465/9, grabbing a 68-run lead in reply to Sri Lanka’s first innings score of 397.
Sri Lanka’s openers Dimuth Karunaratne and Oshada Fernando began the second innings on a steady note before the latter was run out for 19. Lasith Embuldeniya was brought in as the nightwatchman but was bowled off the final ball of the day by Taijul Islam.
At stumps, Sri Lanka were in a precarious position scoring 39 for 2, still trailing Bangladesh by 29 more runs.
Karunaratne remained unbeaten on 18, and is expected to be joined by Kusal Mendis, tomorrow morning.
After a 30-minute delay owing to rain, play resumed and before long, Mushfiqur reached the 5000-run mark. He began the day 15 runs shy of the milestone and got to it after taking a deflection off his gloves. Mushfiqur soon reached his century after lunch, his first in Test cricket in over a year.
Earlier, Bangladesh resumed the day on 318 for 3, with Litton and Mushfiqur picking up from where they left. The duo made sure no wickets were lost as Bangladesh reached 385 for 3 at lunch. Sri Lanka’s bowlers, like in the third evening, looked ineffective and couldn’t get much out of the pitch. (Agencies)