Chittagong: Shamsur Rahman and Imrul Kayes hit maiden centuries as Bangladesh found batting form to avoid the follow-on in the second and final Test against Sri Lanka in Chittagong on Thursday. The hosts, facing a monumental Sri Lankan first innings total of 587, fought splendidly to reach 409-8 by stumps on the third day at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury stadium.

It was a remarkable comeback by the bottom-placed Test side, who had been thrashed by an innings and 248 runs in the first Test in Dhaka last week - suffering their 14th defeat in 15 matches against Sri Lanka with one draw. But the loss of four batsmen in the final session after being 319-4 at one stage, meant Bangladesh still trail by 178 runs with just two wickets in hand. Rahman and Kayes, who came together when Tamim Iqbal was dismissed without a run on the board on Wednesday afternoon, put on Bangladesh's highest second-wicket stand of 232.