Ever since pacer Kasun Rajitha came in as a concussion substitute for Sri Lanka during the first Test, the right-arm paceman was right on the money and bowled impressively.
He was Sri Lanka’s best bowler as he took four wickets in the only innings where Bangladesh batted.
And the young pace bowler started the Dhaka Test from where he had left off in Chittagong as he cleaned up Bangladesh opener Mahmudul Hasan Joy in the very second ball of the match.
It was a length ball outside off which slightly came in and it went between the gap between bat and pad.
Thus, Rajitha produced a dream start for the Lankans.
Other pacer Asitha Fernando bagged two wickets at the other end to pile more pressure on Tigers top-order.
But Rajitha then initiated a double blow in the seventh over to expose Tigers’ middle-order further.
Rajitha rattled Nazmul Hossain Shanto’s defence in the fourth ball of the seventh over and then trapped Shakib al Hasan leg before wicket for a golden duck.
Rajitha was bowling round the wicket against these two left-handers, creating an angle with his incoming deliveries, and both Shanto and Shakib were unable to handle those incoming balls.
There was a big gap between Shanto’s bat and pad and the inswinger rattled his stumps while Shakib also fell in a similar way where his review was lost as umpire’s call stood.
Liton Das faced the hat-trick ball from Rajitha and defended well eventually.
At that moment Bangladesh were 24 for five.
It was an impressive display of fast bowling from Rajitha who hit the deck in just the right corridor and good swing in the first hour of the Test match.