CHATTOGRAM, May 19, 2022 (BSS)- Sri Lanka batter Dhananjaya de Silva said his side is happy to draw the first Test against Bangladesh, given that the hosts had slight advantage to win the game.

The hosts raised a hope for an unlikely victory as Sri Lanka were 161-6 in its second innings about halfway through the middle session, leading by 93 runs.

Niroshan Dickwella made 61 not out and captain Dimuth Karunaratne hit 52 to play a key role in resisting a pumped-up Bangladesh bowling attack, led by Taijul Islam who claimed 4-82.

"Definitely it was going to be a draw. We knew it in the first day when they were batting also. There was a very slight chance of Bangladesh to win but the wicket didn't have anything for the bowlers. We are very happy with the draw," Dhananjaya said here today.

But he believed that if Kusal Mendis could bat for sometimes more, Sri Lanka could press for a victory.

Resuming the day at 39-2, Kusal Mendis unleashed a powerful attack on Bangladeshi bowlers to help the side rotate the scoreboard rapidly. It looked Sri Lanka came up with positive mindset to force a result.

Taijul Islam then got into act, spinning one past Mendis viciously to clip off stump after he scored 48 from 43 balls.

Taijul then took the wicket of Angelo Mathews too, dismissing him for 15 ball-duck.

"That's the way he (Mendis) plays. He is naturally a gifted player who times the ball well. He wants to make runs quickly. If he gets a 75 or 80 not out, we might have had a chance to win," de Silva remarked.

Dhananjaya de Silva however also got some positives for them in the drawn match, as he believes Sri Lanka pacers are much better than Bangladesh in the match.

 "May be (Bangladesh had the upper-hand) but our pacers did better than theirs. We have a few positive in that aspect," he reckoned.

The Lankan middle order batter has no reservation to reveal their blueprint to beat Bangladesh in the second and final Test in Dhaka to win the series.

"One pacer and three spinners will play. The wicket (Mirpur Sher-e-Bangla) will be helpful to the spinners. If we are batting first, we will try to get 275-300, and then get them out for less than 150 in one innings. It will give us a chance to win," he informed.