Sri Lanka recorded their second biggest ever Test win by an innings, wrapping up the first Test an hour after lunch on the fourth day with Bangladesh still 248 runs short of making the visitors bat again. An innings deficit of 498 was demoralising enough for Bangladesh to capitulate without a fight, and there was no stoic resistance from them to take the game to the fifth day, let alone save the game. Sri Lanka's seamers began the slide before the middle order succumbed to the offspin of Dilruwan Perera, who took a five-wicket haul in only his second Test.
Sri Lanka had batted themselves into position from which they would certainly not have to pad up again. The same pitch that produced 730 runs in a single innings was made to look like a seamer's paradise when Sri Lanka took the ball, causing the Bangladesh batsmen to hop and weave even on a fourth-day surface. In the end, Sri Lanka narrowly missed recording their biggest innings win, that of 254 runs against Zimbabwe 10 years ago.
The wickets in the morning were attributed more to good bowling from the visitors, and the aggressive approach from the hosts always gave the bowlers a sniff. The only cheer for Bangladesh was a brisk fifty by Mominul Haque, but it did little to wrest the initiative from Sri Lanka.
The overcast conditions were ripe for seam bowling and Sri Lanka prised out two wickets with the short ball. Shaminda Eranga's snorter off the second ball of the morning was too good for Shamsur Rehman who failed to pick the ball from the gloom and gloved it to the wicketkeeper. Marshall Ayub was impressive with his defense before he too was found wanting with his technique against the bouncer. Suranga Lakmal bowled round the wicket with a leg gully and short leg waiting and Ayub failed to fend it off, lobbing the ball to Kaushal Silva at short leg.
Bangladesh were firmly pegged on the back foot but the situation didn't deter Shakib Al Hasan and Mominul from going for their strokes. The seamers persisted with the short stuff and both left-handers were compulsive with the pull, though not all shots were in control. Mominul wasn't afraid to slash over the slips and point and Shakib too didn't restrain himself.
The introduction of spin, via Perera, sunk the hosts further. Shortly after Shakib brought up the fifty stand with a cover-driven boundary, he played back to Perera and was trapped lbw to one that went through with the arm. Mominul brought up his half-century, off just 52 balls before he too fell lbw to Perera, playing back. There was a semblance of doubt with the verdict, however, as replays indicated that the ball may have been sliding down the leg side.
Mushfiqur's wicket was probably the biggest blow, for he has shown on many occasions that he can occupy the crease, a quality many of his teammates have failed to show consistently. In the last over before lunch, he was beaten by flight going for the drive and bowled through the gate.
Nasir Hossain was the only specialist batsman remaining but he too succumbed to a poor stroke, skying the ball to mid-off, giving Perera his fourth wicket. The two Hossains - Rubel and Al-Amin - gave the crowd something to cheer with a blazing last-wicket stand of 53 in just 6.2 overs, but it wasn't enough to hide the embarrassment of their fourth-biggest innings defeat, that too at home.
Bangladesh have an extra day to ponder over the loss and rethink their combination for the Chittagong Test which begins on February 4.
They picked three seamers on a pitch in Mirpur that had more bounce than a typical Bangladesh surface, but as Sri Lanka proved, in order to exploit it to the fullest you needed bowlers with extra yards of pace like Eranga and Lakmal. With the series at stake, Bangladesh could revert to a more spin-heavy attack and prove that their progress in 2013 was no fluke.
Day 3: Bangladesh 232 and 35 for 1 trail Sri Lanka 730 for 6 dec (Jayawardene 203*, Mathews 86, Vithanage 103*) by 463 runs
Individual milestones dominated the most one-sided of the three days so far as Sri Lanka eventually declared after piling on a whopping 730 for 6, after Mahela Jayawardene reached his seventh double-century and Kithuruwan Vithanage scored his maiden century in only his third Test. By tea, Sri Lanka were already ahead by a healthy 370, but the captain Angelo Mathews held back the declaration till Jayawardene reached his milestone, giving Sri Lanka a seemingly unassailable lead of 498. Sri Lanka picked up a late wicket to cap another dominant day.
Bangladesh had been on the field since the final session on the first day and the physical and mental fatigue was apparent with the way they carried themselves on the third day, as if waiting to be told when to head indoors and pad up. Their specialist seamers weren't effective enough and their spinners too were at the mercy of Sri Lanka's in-form batting line-up.
There was little the part-timers could do. It's normal for captains to give their bowlers at least an hour before stumps to nip out a few wickets, but Mathews adopted a more conservative approach and instead was happy to give the hosts nine overs. In that period, Bangladesh lost Tamim to a reckless shot.
Mathews had a chance to add to the centuries tally, before falling for 86. Jayawardene continued to milk the bowling in placid conditions and he brought out his signature late cut and paddle sweep against the spinners. Having begun his innings overnight, he brought up his fifty with an effortless cover drive off Al-Amin Hossain.
He moved to the 90s with an impeccable reverse sweep off Sohag Gazi that went for a boundary. He sped towards his century with a late cut off the part-time legspinner Marshall Ayub and followed it up with another boundary in the same region, off Robiul Islam. The seamer dished out a long hop down the leg side which Jayawardene pulled to fine leg to bring up his century.
He barely gave the bowlers a chance, until he survived a close shout for lbw off Gazi on 119. Jayawardene attempted another reverse sweep and was struck adjacent to the stumps with the ball pitching in line with the stumps despite the round the wicket angle. Gazi was exasperated when it was turned down but it summed up Bangladesh's day.
Mathews too survived, when on 68 he edged Ayub and was dropped by the wicketkeeper Mushfiqur Rahim. Mathews capitalised on Robiul's poor length, pulling a short one down the leg side and driving the next one down the ground for consecutive boundaries. He had a century for the taking but chipped Gazi towards midwicket where Ayub took a sharp catch.
Vithanage made merry given the carefree situation and along with Jayawardene, helped take the score past 600. Vithanage made a fifty on debut, against the same team last year in a similar pressure-free scenario. His inclusion in this Test was due to Prasanna Jayawardene's departure due to his father's death. And Vithanage made good use of this unexpected opportunity.
The left-hander was busy at the crease, rocking back to cut the spinners through the off side when they dropped it short. He came down the track to the spinners and tonked two sixes down the ground.
The new ball didn't give Bangladesh any respite as a couple of short balls were dispatched for fours behind square leg by Vithanage, who brought up his fifty with one of those. Luck was on his side as two outside edges by Vithanage found the third man boundary, one of which bisected the keeper and first slip, both of whom were unmoved.
Vithanage brought up his ton with a square cut for four off Nasir and at that stage, Jayawardene was still 17 short of a double-century. Jayawardene batted with greater urgency after tea, shuffling across his stumps to sweep the spinners and he raced to his double-ton in style, with two sixes over deep midwicket off Nasir. Jayawardene, in the process, overtook the Australian Allan Border's tally of 11,174 runs and is now the sixth-highest run-getter in Tests.
Neither pace nor spin worked for Bangladesh, and their frustration in not being able to pick up wickets was summed up in one small passage of play in the morning when Robiul Islam exchanged words with Jayawardene, making the umpires and Rahim intervene to appease the situation.
They now face the task of batting out two days. Tamim's dismissal, caught off a leading edge to point, was perhaps the last thing they needed. The best they can do is take a leaf out of Sri Lanka's book and use the conditions to play themselves in and grind out the opposition.
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