Defiant Ashraful leads Bangladesh resistance

DHAKA (Reuters) - Skipper Mohammad Ashraful hit an unbeaten half-century as Bangladesh batted defiantly in pursuit of a massive victory target in the first test against Sri Lanka at Mirpur on Tuesday.

Ashraful's eighth test half century guided the hosts to 254 for five at the close of the fourth day chasing an unlikely 521 to win the match.

Ashraful and Shakib Al Hasan (34no) shared an unbroken 74-run stand for the sixth wicket to provide the resistance after Muttiah Muralitharan left them in turmoil with a triple strike.

Despite the pair's defiance, Sri Lanka remained confident of likely victory.

"They will be under pressure on the fifth day because they need to get around 270 runs and we need only two wickets to expose their tail," batsman Tillakaratne Dilshan told reporters.

"Tomorrow (Wednesday) after two overs, the new ball will be available for us so we have a very good chance to win this test match," he added.

The hosts lost wickets whenever they looked like building a partnership after Tillakaratne Dilshan ran out Imrul Kayes (13) with a direct hit from midwicket to end an opening stand of 40.

Paceman Dammika Prasad removed opener Tamim Iqbal for a confident 47 before off-spinner Muralitharan removed Zunaed Siddique (37) and Raqibul Hassan (24), taking his match tally to eight wickets.

Muralitharan later added Mehrab Hossain, who was caught at mid-off by substitute fielder Chamara Kapugedera for 23, to give Sri Lanka their only success in the final session that was extended by 20 minutes after a delayed start in the morning.