Nayeem Hasan claimed a six-wicket haul in his comeback Test but that didn’t stop Sri Lanka from piling on 397 in their first innings against Bangladesh in the first innings of the first Test at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chattogram on Monday.
Angelo Mathews fell one run short of scoring his second Test double century but his resilient innings took the visitors to a commanding first innings total on the third session of the second day.
Other than Nayeem, who finished with career best 6-105, Shakib Al Hasan and Taijul Islam took three and one wicket respectively.
Sri Lanka started the day on 258-4 with Mathews and Dinesh Chandimal remained unbeaten on 114 and 34 respectively.
The pair continued batting for 23.1 overs on the day and looked primed to end the session without losing a wicket. But Nayeem, who had taken two wickets on the previous day, struck twice in five deliveries. He trapped Chandimal LBW for 66 and bowled Niroshan Dickwella for three, to reduce the visitors to 323-6.
Shakib then struck twice in quick succession early in the second session to further reduce Sri Lanka to 328-8.
But Mathews remained undeterred and formed small but useful partnerships for the final two wickets to push the total near 400.
Nayeem dismissed Asitha Fernando for one to complete his five-wicket haul after Tea. Vishwa Fernando, who didn’t come out to bat after the Tea break after getting hit on the head by a bouncer from Shoriful Islam in the final ball of the second session.
Vishwa came out to support Mathews, who was eight runs away from his double century. But he fell agonosingly short of the milestone as his attempt to reach the 200 with a boundary backfired and he ended up giving an easy catch to Shakib at square leg.