Bangladesh had started day four at 47-5, with a defeat looking inevitable. They couldn’t put up a fight as the tourists hunted the remaining wickets midway through the second session of the day. Kasun Rajitha starred as the wrecker-in-chief with his 5-56, his second five-wicket haul.

Rajitha provided the first breakthrough in the morning by pinning Taijul Islam lbw for six in just the third over of the day. He later snared Mehidy Hasan Miraz (33 off 50) to break the most substantial partnership (66) of the innings with Mominul Haque.

Rajitha completed his five-for after lunch with a double strike: Shoriful Islam’s 41-ball resistance came to an end when he handed a return catch, and Khaled Ahmed nicked behind the very next ball.

Lahiru Kumara finished the formalities as he had up No.11 Nahid Rana caught at slip with a vicious delivery aimed at the batter’s ribs to seal the victory. With 87 off 148, Mominul, the sole bright spot in Bangladesh’s poor batting display, was left stranded.

For the third time and the first since the 1980s, all 20 opposition wickets fell courtesy of Sri Lanka pacers. The other two instances were against India in 1985 and Pakistan in 1985/86, both at Colombo.

This was also the third time a side took 20 wickets on Bangladesh soil (after the West Indies, at both Dhaka and Chattogram in 2002/03). The 31 wickets that fell to pace in a Test match is also a record in the nation, eclipsing the Bangladesh-West Indies Chattogram Test of 2002/03.

A thumping 328-run win seals a 1-0 lead in the 2-match Test series. #BANvSL

Who were your standout performers in this match? pic.twitter.com/sMFsiuBIro

— Sri Lanka Cricket 🇱🇰 (@OfficialSLC) March 25, 2024

Captain Dhananjaya de Silva received the Player of the Match award for his 102 and 108.

Watch highlights of BAN v SL 1st Test day 4: