Bangladesh ended the first day's play past the 200-run mark, a significant turnaround after a precarious start. The team finished on 220 for 8 wickets against Sri Lanka.
At one point, with the dismissal of specialist batter Mushfiqur Rahim at 160, doubts loomed over Bangladesh even reaching the 200-run mark.
However, a crucial partnership between Mehidy Hasan Miraz and Nayeem Hasan dispelled those fears. The duo added 37 runs, with Miraz contributing 31 before being dismissed by Vishwa Fernando.
Nayeem then departed for 25 runs. Taijul Islam (9*) and Ebadot Hossain (5*) then saw out the remaining overs to end the day. Bangladesh will resume batting tomorrow.
Earlier in the match, Bangladesh won the toss and elected to bat first. Shadman Islam opened the innings with Anamul Haque Bijoy, but the domestic run-machine failed to deliver, bowled for a duck off just 10 balls by Asitha Fernando.
He looked uncomfortable at the crease, offering two catches in the slips in the third over.
After losing the first wicket for just 5 runs, Shadman tried to rebuild the innings with Mominul Haque. However, Mominul threw his wicket away with a poor shot, falling for 21 off 39 balls to De Silva.
Bangladesh's troubles deepened when captain Najmul Hossain Shanto and opener Shadman Islam were dismissed within seven balls of each other.
Vishwa Fernando removed Shanto, who had scored centuries in both innings of the previous Test, in the second over of the second session.
The Bangladeshi captain was caught by Kusal Mendis off the last ball of the over, scoring 8 runs off 31 balls. Shadman was dismissed on the last ball of the very next over, caught in the slips off Tharindu Ratnayake. Before his dismissal, he had batted well, scoring 46 runs off 93 balls with 7 boundaries.
Shadman's dismissal as the fourth batter left the team struggling at 76 runs. However, a resilient partnership between Liton Das and Mushfiqur Rahim helped the Tigers cross the 100-run mark and push towards 150.
Debutant spinner Sonal Dinusha then broke the partnership, getting Liton caught by Kusal Mendis. The Bangladeshi wicketkeeper scored 34 runs off 56 balls.
