BAN vs SL | 2nd Test Day 3 | Mathews, de Silva lends support after Bangladesh takes the early charge

As it happened, Day 3 of the second Test match between Bangladesh and Sri Lanka had rain wiped up the major part of the day's play. After Bangladesh's initial burst, Angelo Mathews and Dhananjaya de Silva came to the rescue for Sri Lanka, with the visitors still sitting slightly ahead in the game.

Starting the day at 143/2, Sri Lanka could not add a run to their overnight tally without further damage as Ebadot Hossain struck in the very first over, cleaning up the nightwatchman, Kasun Rajitha.

Sri Lanka skipper Dimuth Karunaratne did pass Hossain's challenge but had no answer to Shakib Al Hasan's delivery. The spinner pushed the southpaw for a drive, but as the delivery turned, it went straight through the gate to hit the stumps.

Bangladesh had put the important wicket of Karunaratne in their basket. But they did not get much success after that, as Mathews's resistance and de Silva's counter-attack had pushed their backs to the wall.

The middle-order duo led to Lanka's resurrection in the match and helped the side cross the 200-run mark without any other loss. An early lunch was taken due to rain playing a spoilsport. 

Rain washed away a lot of overs before the play resumed in the final session of the day.

The halt did not break the rhythm of Mathews and de Silva, and they carried on in their own fashion. The batters stitched a 102-run partnership, which was brought to an end by Shakib, who dismissed de Silva for 58 runs.

Further, Mathews and Dinesh Chandimal took the innings forward. Sri Lanka finished the day at 282/5, with Mathews and Chandimal remaining unbeaten at 58 and 10 runs, respectively.

Brief scores:

Bangladesh - 365/10 (1st innings)

Mushfiqur Rahim 175*, Litton Das 141;

Kasun Rajitha 5-64, Asitha Fernando 4-93

Sri Lanka 282/5 (1st innings)

Angelo Mathews 58*, Dhananjaya de Silva 58;

Shakib Al Hasan 3-59, Ebadot Hossain 2-78

Sri Lanka trail by 83 runs.