After continuing on their overnight score of 14 for 3, the visitors were bowled out for 97 in their first innings. But the youngsters improved on their batting as they reached 183 for 4 when the day's play ended.

Skipper Mahmudul Hasan chipped in with 47 in the second essay.

Earlier, hosts' skipper Sachith Pathirana ripped through the Bangladesh batting line-up with his left-arm spin, taking four wickets for 24 while seamer Tissara Perera took three. Only Zabid Hossain showed some resistance, scoring 17 off 80 deliveries.

In the second innings, opener Rony Talukdar played a peculiar knock of 17 off only 10 balls before falling to left-arm bowler Charith Jayampathi but Iftekhar Nayeem (35) and Mithun Ali (38) supported their captain but none of them survived as it is now left to the two batsmen at the crease -- Taposh Ghosh (28*) and Ashraful Aziz (14*) -- to erase the 34-run deficit.