Nayeem gets fifer as Bangladesh take 187 runs lead after day 4
Cricfrenzy
At the end of Day 4 of the Galle Test, the contours of the contest have become clear—Sri Lanka must bowl Bangladesh out to win, while the visitors are building steadily towards setting up a potential victory target.
The foundation of Bangladesh’s fight has been laid by captain Najmul Hossain Shanto and the experienced Mushfiqur Rahim.
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After taking a narrow 10-run lead in the first innings, Bangladesh reached 177 for 3 in 57 overs at stumps on the fourth day, extending their overall lead to 187 runs. Shanto remained unbeaten on 56, while Mushfiq was steady at the other end with 22*.
Shanto, who struck a brilliant 148 in the first innings, once again showed his consistency, bringing up his sixth Test fifty with a boundary off Tharindu Ratnayake.
Alongside him, Mushfiqur Rahim anchored the innings cautiously as the duo stitched together an unbroken 49-run stand—now the biggest hope for Bangladesh heading into the final day.
Earlier in the day, Bangladesh began their second innings aiming to extend their lead. But opener Anamul Haque disappointed once again, following up his first-innings duck with just 4. It was Shadman Islam who helped rebuild the innings, slowly picking up the pace alongside Mominul Haque.
Shadman played a patient and valuable knock, scoring 76 off 126 balls—his sixth career fifty. He shared a 36-run partnership with Mominul before falling lbw to Milan Ratnayake, which momentarily put Bangladesh under pressure.
Shanto and Mushfiqur, however, steered the innings calmly against Sri Lanka’s spin-dominated attack, keeping Bangladesh on course for a possible win.
With one day to go, Bangladesh are in a promising position. If they can bat a bit longer and stretch the lead beyond 250, they can pose a stiff challenge for the hosts on a fifth-day surface.
However, taking ten wickets on this pitch won’t be easy. While batting on Day 5 is expected to be more difficult, the surface is still playing relatively true without much sharp turn or variable bounce—putting the onus on the spinners to deliver.
Bangladesh will once again look to Nayeem Hasan, who picked up five wickets in the first innings, to lead the bowling attack.
