Nayeem’s five-fer hands advantage back to Bangladesh

• Lead overall by 187 going into final day

GALLE: Nayeem Hasan, the 25-year-old off-spinner from Chittagong handed the advantage to Bangladesh with his fourth five-wicket haul that gave his team a slender 10-run first innings lead which they had extended to 187 by the close of the fourth day of the first cricket Test at the Galle International Cricket Stadium yesterday.

The Test which at one time seemed that Sri Lanka were in control of has now completely shifted in favour of Bangladesh who are in a position to call the shots. With 94 overs available for the final day today Bangladesh who ended the day on 177-3 in their second innings could fancy their chances of bowling Sri Lanka out on a fifth day pitch that is now starting to assist the spinners although it has not deteriorated to the extent that everyone thought it would.

At lunch, it seemed like Sri Lanka would get into the lead at 465-6 the way Kamindu Mendis and Milan Rathnayake were batting. The pair had helped the side recover from losing Dhananjaya de Silva (19) and Kusal Mendis (5) within 9 runs of each other to leg side catches early in the day as Sri Lanka beginning at 368-4 slipped to 386-6 within the first hour. But then, the rear-guard began and Kamindu, as has often been the case in recent months, was at the middle of it. He kept things ticking, never letting the scoring come to a standstill and found a very able ally in Milan, who benefitted from being dropped early in his innings at 7 when Taijul missed a return catch.

However, after the break when Hasan Mahmud got Milan (39 off 83 balls) to drag a short-ish ball onto his stumps to end a stand of 84 for the seventh wicket, Nayeem removed the last three wickets which included a beauty to dismiss a well-set Kamindu for 87 scored off 148 balls (8 fours, 1 six).Kamindu had looked very solid, bringing up his fifty off 86 balls and was marching towards yet another Test hundred. He was well supported by Milan who had started slowly and shakily, but gained in confidence as his innings progressed. After the lunch break Sri Lanka lost four wickets for 20 in 7.2 overs.

Fifties for Shadman Islam (76 off 126 balls, 7 fours) and an unbeaten half-century for Captain Najmul Hasan (56* off 113 balls, 6 fours) has put Bangladesh in a position from where they cannot lose. Sri Lankan bowlers could hardly put the batsmen under any sort of pressure and were defensive in the field. It’s tough to see Sri Lanka winning from here unless they can conjure up some magic with the ball today and restrict Bangladesh to less than 250 in terms of the lead. The first session could decide which way the game will go.

Kamindu Mendis (right) and Milan Rathnayake added valuable 84 for seventh wicket

Tickets for SL v BD ODI and T20I series go on sale

Online match ticket sales for the ODI and T20I series between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh will commence on 24 June, and physical ticket sales will start on 29 June, states a Sri Lanka Cricket media release.

The public can visit www.srilankacricket.lk to purchase tickets via online.

In the meantime, physical counters will be opened as below:

• Vidya Mawatha Counter at SSC 29 June
• PICS, Pallekele Counter 6 July
• RDICS, Dambulla Counter 11 July

TICKET PRICES

RPICS, Colombo: 1st and 2nd ODI and 3rd T20I

• Grand Stand, Top Level Seats Rs. 3,000
• Block ‘A’ and ‘B’ Upper Level Seats 

Rs. 2,000

• Block ‘A’ and ‘B’ Lower Level Seats 

Rs. 1,000

• Block ‘C’ and ‘D’ Upper Level Seats 

Rs. 750

• Block ‘C’ and ‘D’ Lower Level Seats 

Rs. 500

• Corporate Box (16 seats) Rs. 120,000

PICS, Pallekele: 3rd ODI and First T20I

• Grass Embankment (Standing) Rs. 500
• A and B Seats Rs. 1,000
• Grand Stand Top Level A Rs. 3,000
• Corporate Box (22 Seats) Rs. 165,000

RDICS, Dambulla: 2nd T20I

• Grand Stand Level 3 (seats) Rs. 3,000
• Block ‘A’ Seats Rs. 1,000
• Block ‘B’ Seats Rs. 1,000
• Block C/D/E/F Lower Seats Rs. 1,000
• Block ‘H’ Seats Rs. 1,000
• Block C/D/E/F Upper (Standing) 

Rs. 750

• Sigiriya End (Standing) Rs. 500
• Corporate Box (16 Seats) Rs. 120,000