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SL vs BAN | 2nd Test | Day-4: Sri Lanka inch closer to series victory

Sri Lanka looks set to complete a resounding victory against Bangladesh after ruling the roost for the majority of Day 4. After bowling out Bangladesh for a below-par 251 in their first innings, Sri Lanka needed some quick runs. However, they lost two quick wickets and started the 4th day’s play on 17/2 with a huge lead of 242 runs. They needed to get some quick runs and put Bangladesh on the backfoot and that was exactly what they did. 

Sri Lanka lost the wicket of Angelo Matthews early on in the day and it was a good delivery from Taijul Islam to bring his downfall. With such a huge lead, Sri Lanka was well in control despite the loss of Matthews. A partnership of 73 runs from Dhananjaya de Silva and skipper Dimuth Karunratne set the tone for the rest of the day. They started scoring quickly without caring about the wickets. 

Pathum Nissanka and Niroshan Dickwella breezed through in the mini knocks which allowed Sri Lanka to post 194 on the board with the loss of 9 wickets. Karunartne decided to declare the innings on 194, giving a highly impossible target of 437. While the skipper was the top scorer for the Lankans with 66, Taijul Islam bowled brilliantly and finished with a fifer. He returned with figures of 5/72 in 19.2 overs. 

The visitors got off to a brisk start courtesy some fine strokeplay from opener Tamim Iqbal. He looked in sublime touch but had to depart after making 24 of 26 in a bid to play his strokes. The most disappointing part with Bangladesh’s batting display was everyone got off to start but none could turn it into a big one. 

All the top five batsmen looked in great touch and played some delightful shots en route to their brief knocks. However, despite their exceptional starts, Bangladesh could only muster 177 on the board with the loss of 5 wickets. Saif Hassan, Najmul Hossain Shanto, Mominul Haque and Mushfiqur Rahim went past 25 but none could convert it into a half-century. Ramesh Mendis and Praveen Jayawickrama bowled brilliantly in the middle overs and bagged three and two wickets respectively. With Bangladesh still needing 260 to win, Sri Lanka can sense victory and they should be hoping to wrap up things early on Day 5. 

Brief Scores

Sri Lanka 1st innings- 493/7 dec (Lahiru Thirimanne 140, Dimuth Karunaratne 118, Taskin Ahmed 4/127)

Bangladesh 1st innings- 251 all-out (Tamim Iqbal 92, Praveen Jayawickrama 6/92) 

Sri Lanka 2nd innings- 194/9 dec (Dimuth Karunaratne 66, Taijul Islam 5/72) 

Bangladesh 2nd innings- 177/5 (Mushfiqur Rahim 40, Ramesh Mendis 3/86) 

Bangladesh need 260 more runs to win

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IPL 2021: I was a little surprised that so many of the Australians went over there says Mark Taylor

Former Australian skipper Mark Taylor is surprised to see so many of his Australian compatriots continuing their IPL duties as a player and a part of the management of their respective franchises. With the second wave of COVID-19 creating a ruckus all over India, three Australian cricketers including Andrew Tye, Liam Livingstone, Adam Zampa and Kane Richardson has pulled out of the tournament midway. However, there are fourteen Australian players present in the IPL at the moment along with coaches and commentators and Mark Taylor is surprised to see them continue their duties. He further added that with guys like Pat Cummins earning a huge amount from a single season it is hard for him to quit the tournament but for someone like Steve Smith who was bought at 2.2 crores he was surprised to see him continue. “I was a little surprised that so many of the Australians went over there. If you’re Pat Cummins, he’s on something around (Rs 15.5 crore), so that’s very hard to knock back for six weeks of playing cricket,” Taylor said during a discussion on ‘Channel 9′. “Steve Smith was an interesting one because his contract was about Australian dollars 350,000 (Rs 2.2 crore with Delhi Capitals), which is not to be sneezed at but for a guy like Steve Smith, it’s not as big a contract as it probably should have been. I was surprised he decided to go,” Taylor added. Australian opener Chris Lynn recently made a comment that the Australian Cricket Board should organise a chartered flight for all of his members to help them fly back after the tournament. He had also said that since the board takes some percent of their IPL salary it’s their duty to make sure that the players return home safe and secure. Taylor called the comment “very rich”. “I think Chris Lynn’s comments were very rich, absolutely,” Taylor said was quoted as saying on Sports Sunday. “The 10 per cent Cricket Australia does receive from a player’s contract over there surely has got something to do with actually providing the cricketer with some coaching, education along the way to become an IPL-worthy cricketer,” he further explained. While players like Zampa, Tye and Kane Richardson has returned home there are several Australian players and coaches still continuing their duties. Despite India going through tumultuous times, Taylor feels that the players and the coaches are feeling secure in the bio-bubble atleast for the moment. “Ponting is over there, Warner, Brett Lee there. Good mates of mine, Brad Haddin, Trevor Bayliss are coaching over there. I haven’t heard much from them apart from that, they’re there to see (out) the end of the tournament,” Taylor said. “A lot of the players have actually said they feel comfortable in the bubble they’re in; but what they would like once the tournament’s over… “I think the Australian players and coaches are hoping that they’ll get home ASAP. That is what they’re after at this stage,” Taylor signed off.