Bangladesh are facing an uphill battle in the Colombo Test after Sri Lanka closed Day 2 on 290 for 2, securing a 43-run lead, powered by an unbeaten 146 from the opener Pathum Nissanka and a fluent 93 from Dinesh Chandimal. Having bowled out Bangladesh for 247 earlier in the morning, Sri Lanka dominated with the bat despite brief periods of resistance from Bangladesh’s bowlers at the SCC on Thursday. In response, Sri Lanka got off to a fluent start as Udara and Nissanka added 88 for the first wicket before Bangladesh briefly applied pressure with tighter spells from Miraz and Taijul. However, a marathon 194-run stand between Nissanka and Chandimal wore down the visitors’ attack. He eventually dismissed Chandimal but was unable to trouble the in-form Nissanka, who punished anything loose and looked increasingly unflappable as the day progressed.
