Sri Lanka vs Bangladesh 2017: 1st Test, Day 3, 5 Talking Points
Sri Lankan spinners, Rangana Herath and Dilruwan Perera took three wickets apiece to bowl out Bangladesh for 312, earning the hosts a lead of 182. That would have soared much more if not for a 106-run partnership between Mushfiqur Rahim and Mehedi Hasan.
The duo helped the visitors recover from four quick wickets on day 3, including that of Soumya Sarkar, their set batsman, and Shakib-al-Hasan, their most experienced. Mehedi Hasan showed great resolve and fight in a knock of 41 that was shadowed by a superlative innings by Rahim.
Once the partnership was broken, Sri Lanka cleaned up the rest in no time but unfortunately did not get to extend their lead as rain played spoilsport at Galle. With two days to go in the game, the match is still open unless rain interrupts yet again.
Brief Scores: Sri Lanka 494. Bangladesh 312 (Rahim 85, Sarkar 71, Perera 3/53)
Take a glance at the talking points from day 3 of the first Test at Galle between Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.
#5 Shakib-al-Hasan pays for aggression without intent
The all-rounder had smashed the highest score by a Bangladeshi player in the Test series against New Zealand. But with Shakib, there is always his natural style of batting creeping into his game, which wouldn't have been a bad thing if he knew to control his aggression at the crease.
With Bangladesh having lost their set batsman in Soumya Sarkar, they needed Shakib to put his head down and produce a fighting knock. Instead he played drives away from his body and went after short balls, luckily the resultant top edge went for a six.
But he soon gave away a run a ball start by guiding a Sandakan wrong 'un to Dickwella's hands down the leg side. While some might term the dismissal unlucky, Shakib was plainly not watching the ball and resorted to show aggression instead.