Close Sri Lanka 32 for no loss (Atapattu 20*, Arnold 10*) trail Bangladesh 161 all out (Sarkar 55, Muralitharan 5-39) by 129 runs
scorecard

A home series against Bangladesh was the perfect tonic for Sri Lanka after their horrendous tour of England, and they made the most of it. Muttiah Muralitharan returned from a one-month break and grabbed 5 for 39 – his 35th five-for in Test cricket - as Bangladesh were bundled out for 161 in the first innings. After being put into bat, they were going well at 107 for 2, before Muralitharan scalped Habibul Bashar and Aminul Islam, Bangladesh's two best batsmen. It was downhill from there, though debutant opener Hannan Sarkar offered some resistance with a solid 55. By close of play on a rain-interrupted day – only 15 minutes of play was possible in the afternoon session – Sri Lanka's openers had already knocked off 32 runs in seven overs.

Sujeeva de Silva, the latest in a horde of Sri Lankan left-arm seamers, began his Test career well, trapping Bangladesh opener Al Sahariar Rokon lbw with a good-length delivery which cut in sharply. Rokon had made just 13 (32 for 1).

Ehsanul Haque made a forgettable debut as he survived a confident leg-before appeal off the first delivery from Sujeeva and then was hit on the helmet in the same over before being bowled by a Dilhara Fernando inswinger for 2 (50 for 2).

Sarkar and Bashar then steadied the innings with a 57-run stand before Sanath Jayasuriya trapped Sarkar in front with his first delivery of the match. Sarkar had struck 8 fours in his 69-ball knock. Next over, Murali had Bashar lbw for 24 as Bangladesh slipped to 111 for 4, losing two wickets in the last two overs before lunch.

The misery continued for Bangladesh after the break, when Islam was dismissed by Murali for a three-ball duck in the second over after lunch (111 for 5). Akram Khan scratched around for 105 minutes in scoring a laborious 20, and put together 37 for the sixth wicket with Khaled Mashud, before Muralithan removed Mashud for 23. The next four wickets fell for 13 runs, and Sri Lanka were well on the way to their ninth successive Test victory at home.

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