Chandimal leads Lanka's fightback in Colombo Test

Middle-order batsman Dinesh Chandimal played a calm and composed knock of 86* to help Sri Lanka reach 238-7 on the first day of the second Test against Bangladesh at the P Sara Oval here on Wednesday.

After being asked to bowl first, Bangladesh, playing their 100th Test, did not disappoint, keeping Sri Lanka in check and dominating throughout the day.

The day was called off six overs earlier when rain started to pour in. At Stumps, skipper Rangana Herath was there at the crease at 18 alongside Chandimal, who has so far faced 210 balls and has scored only four boundaries.

On a pitch that did not have much for the bowlers, all the Bangladeshi bowlers bowled with good line and length and never allowed the hosts to score freely.

Mustafizur Rahman and Mehedi Hasan picked two-two wickets each while Shakib Al Hasan, Taijul Islam and Subashis Roy scalped one-one wicket.

Apart from Chandimal, Niroshan Dickwella (wk) and Dhananjaya de Silva were the other notable contributors with the bat, each scoring 34 runs.

Bangladesh had lost the first Test by a huge margin of 259 runs.