As the first Test match between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh at the Galle International Stadium reaches the fifth and final day, the hosts have an unquestionable command, as the visitors need another 390 runs on the final day. At the end of the fourth day, Bangladesh is batting with 67 runs without losing any wickets. For the visitors, Tamim Iqbal (13) and Soumya Sarkar (53) are at the crease, and on the fifth day, they should bat at least till the lunch to keep the hopes of the team live in this game.
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Target 457
Bangladesh 67/0 in 15 overs.
Sri Lanka 494 and 274/6d vs Bangladesh 312
All hopes lie on Soumya Sarkar
Soumya Sarkar, the young left-handed batsman is now going through the nicest patches of his career, as he has made it a habit of scoring half centuries continuously. Yesterday, when Bangladesh started their Himalayan run chase, it was Soumya who gave them that extra confident. The young man scored an unbeaten 53 runs off 47 balls at a strike rate of 112.77, and this innings included six boundaries and one six.
As the Bangladesh team continues their run chase in the fifth and final day, all the hope lies in the shoulders of Soumya Sarkar. If he succeeds in finding the rhythm, then it will surely turn out to be a real headache to the Sri Lankan team.
Television Telecast Information
Star Sports and Gazi TV is telecasting this game in India and Bangladesh respectively. For the live streaming, visit the official website of Star Sports or Hotstar.
A spin friendly pitch which will favor the hosts
As the game enters the fifth day, cracks have already started developed on the surface, and it will give Sri Lanka an upper hand, as they have a quality spinner like Rangana Herath in their bowling attack.
But on the fourth day, Soumya Sarkar has purposefully attacked Rangana and he conceded 32 runs in his spell of four overs. However, the first session of the game will be quite crucial for both the games, and it will have direct impacts in determining the winners of this game.