Najmul Hossain Shanto Leads Bangladesh’s Fightback in Galle
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S Panda
- . June 21, 2025
- . Update: June 21, 2025 1:35 am
The fourth day of the second Test between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh ended with the latter still stubbornly perched at 75 runs in front of the hosts at the tea break in Galle. The guests are in a position of dominant but fragile power, and that experience of veteran wicketkeeper Mushfiqur Rahim would likely be decisive in the further sessions.
Late in the afternoon, the momentum turned decisively with young spinner Nayeem Hasan taking advantage of the degrading Galle pitch to very bad effect. He fundamentally demolished the lower order of Sri Lanka to take his fourth five-wicket haul in Tests, with 32 runs only being the achievement of the traditional mystic of the sub-continental cricket.
Kamindu Mendis, who had been holding the Sri Lankan innings with a stoic 87, was the gauntlet that Nayeem wanted, as it was a pretty flighted delivery that got the edge of Mendis. The drift and spin that the ball was taking illustrated how the Galle surface was at long last coming good to the spinners after the three fairly selector days.
Shadman Islam, the opening batsman, has been in control of the pressure situations till now as he was on 44 not out at tea. He has remained patient, and through it, Bangladesh has been awarded the stage they require, but the fact that Najmul Hossain Shanto is at the other end, inculcates the stability they seek in terms of leadership in their second innings endeavor.
The dismissals of Anamul Haque and Mominul Haque were sore reminders of the fact that the pitch was increasingly becoming erratic. The two cricketers were out to balls that made the ball take unanticipated bounce and spin, a feature that may turn out to be vital over the passage of the game.
This 75-run lead offers several choices. A combative strategy would result in Bangladesh enhancing their lead ahead of giving the Sri Lankan side a stiff goal to achieve in the fourth innings. On the contrary, staying at the crease longer could nullify the team at home and give them no chance of losing.
The feasible way of winning on the home ground will be to take advantage of Bangladesh in easy dimensions before the pitch becomes even worse. Each run that is given up now might be expensive later when they are forced to catch up with a score.
