Sri Lanka on top after Day 1 of second Test

Bangladesh struggled at 56/4 at stumps on the opening day of the second Test even after Abdur Razzak made a fruitful comeback to the Test arena after four years, returning a career-best 4/63 to bowl out Sri Lanka for 222 here on Thursday.

At the end of the first day, Bangladesh still trail Sri Lanka by 166 runs with just six wickets in hand. Liton Das, the wicketkeeper-batsman, was unbeaten on 24, and had Mehidy Hasan for company on five.

For Sri Lanka, opener Kushal Mendis was the top scorer with 68 runs while Roshen Silva (56) and Dilruwan Perera (31) chipped in with vital contributions to take the team past the 200-run mark.

Besides Abdur Razzak, Taijul Islam finished with figures of 4/83 while the lone pacer Mustafizur Rahman chipped in with two wickets.

Sri Lanka came out in their defence of 222 with all guns blazing. Skipper Suranga Lakmal got rid of Tamim Iqbal (4) off just the fourth ball of the innings, with the opener spooning a return catch to the bowler.

Mominul Haque, fresh from a century in each innings of the previous Test, was run-out for a duck in the very next over, although he had only himself to blame.

Mushfiqur Rahim hung around for a rather fortuitous 22-ball 1, but his luck finally ran out when he shouldered arms to Lakmal only to see his off-stump splattered.

At that time, Bangladesh were 12/3, but Imrul Kayes and Das staged a brief revival with a 33-run partnership for the fourth wicket. However, late in the day, Kayes was trapped in front for 19 off Perera, and Sri Lanka walked back in the happier side.

Brief Scores: Sri Lanka 1st innings 222 (Kusal Mendis 68, Roshen Silva 56; Abdur Razzak 4/63, Taijul Islam 4/83) vs Bangladesh 1st innings 56/4 (Liton Das 24 not out, Imrul Kayes 19; Suranga Lakmal 2/15).

--IANS

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