Karunaratne hits fifty as hosts bat at nearly five an over with four wickets in hand
Lunch Sri Lanka 493 for 7 dec and 172 for 6 (Karunaratne 66, de Silva 41, Dickwella 23*, Mendis 2*, Islam 3-60) lead Bangladesh 251 (Iqbal 92, Haque 49, Jayawickrama 6-92) by 414 runs
Sri Lanka sped away to 172 for 6, taking their lead to 414 runs at lunch on the fourth day. Dimuth Karunaratne struck a half-century as the home side batted at nearly five an over in 39 overs of the morning session. Although the style of batting suggests there’s a declaration around the corner, they haven’t yet made the announcement.
Bangladesh did take four more wickets in the morning but were left with few answers against a batting line-up scoring so freely. Angelo Mathews and Karunaratne gave an early signal of Sri Lanka’s intentions of a brisk start by hitting sixes in the first five overs. Although Mathews fell soon after, caught at short leg by substitute Yasir Ali, Karunaratne continued in the attacking vein, adding 73 for the fourth wicket with Dhananjaya de Silva.
It took a toll on Mehidy Hasan Miraz who was taken off after conceding runs at more than five an over in his first spell of six overs. His replacement, Saif Hassan, went on to remove Karunaratne to account for his first Test wicket with his part-time offspin. Karunaratne’s 66 included seven fours and a six as he went past 400 runs in the Test series.
A couple of overs later, Miraz had de Silva caught at slip after a deflection off the wicketkeeper, having made 41 with five boundaries including a six. Pathum Nissanka became Taijul Islam’s third wicket but not before Sri Lanka took a 400-plus lead in the 29th over of the day.
On the third evening, Bangladesh got rid of Lahiru Thirimanne and Oshada Fernando after Sri Lanka didn’t enforce the follow-on. Thirimanne was caught at slip off Miraz while Fernando got stumped by Liton Das off an Islam delivery.
Earlier, Bangladesh were bowled out for 251, having lost their last seven wickets for 37 runs. Praveen Jayawickrama broke the Sri Lankan record for best bowling figures on Test debut with his 6 for 92, while Ramesh Mendis and Suranga Lakmal took two each.
Mohammad Isam is ESPNcricinfo’s Bangladesh correspondent. @isam84