Shanto leads Bangladesh but chances of draw increase

Rain came down little over an hour into the morning session and Bangladesh also didn't look in any hurry to put pressure on the hosts Bangladesh reached 495 and then 237 for 4 at lunch, stretching their lead over Sri Lanka to 247 runs in a match now drifting toward a likely draw. Early in the day, there was curiosity around Bangladesh's intent — would they accelerate and leave themselves enough time to dismiss Sri Lanka? But steady rain about an hour into play answered part of that question, bringing lunch forward by ten minutes and leaving little room for aggressive tactics. Though the rain delay was brief and didn't cost any overs, the tone of the match had already been set. With Bangladesh’s advantage not yet large enough to declare boldly, and the clock ticking, a shared outcome seems all but inevitable. Najmul Hossain Shanto stood firm on 89 not out, building a 109-run partnership with Mushfiqur Rahim, who was dismissed just before the rain interruption. Mushfiqur, seeking a quick single to reach his fifty, was caught short by a direct hit from mid-on. Despite the occasional threat of rain throughout the match, play has largely proceeded without significant interruption, making Bangladesh's lack of urgency in the morning session somewhat puzzling. While both camps had spoken about chasing a result, Bangladesh played cautiously, crawling along at 3.15 runs per over. Perhaps they were wary of risking World Test Championship points, especially given their recent struggles in the format. There were brief glimpses of intent — Mushfiqur and Shanto each drilled boundaries early in the morning — but overall, the batters were content to blunt the spinners with defensive strokes. Sri Lanka, for their part, set defensive fields and failed to extract much assistance from the pitch, unlike Bangladesh’s Nayeem Hasan, who had found plenty of turn on the previous afternoon. What began with hopes of an exciting finish now appears set to end quietly, with both sides seemingly resigned to sharing the points.