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A US commercial mission carrying astronauts from India, Poland and Hungary blasted off to the International Space Station on Wednesday, marking the first time in decades that these nations have sent crew members to space.Axiom Mission 4, or Ax-4, launched from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 2:31 am (0631 GMT), with a brand-new SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule riding atop a Falcon 9 rocket.The vehicle is scheduled to dock with the orbital lab on Thursday at approximately 1100 GMT and remain there for up to 14 days.Aboard the spacecraft were pilot Shubhanshu Shukla of India; mission specialists Slawosz Uznanski-Wisniewski of Poland and Tibor Kapu of Hungary; and commander Peggy Whitson of the United States, a former NASA astronaut who now works for the company Axiom Space, which organizes private spaceflights, among other things.The last time India, Poland or Hungary sent people to space, their current crop of astronauts had not yet been born — and back then they were called cosmonauts, as they all flew on Soviet missions before the fall of the Iron Curtain.Shukla became the first Indian in space since Rakesh Sharma, an air force pilot who traveled to the Salyut 7 space station in 1984 as part of a Soviet-led initiative to help allied countries access space.India’s space agency, ISRO, sees this flight as a key stepping stone toward its own maiden crewed mission, planned for 2027 under the Gaganyaan program, meaning “sky craft.””What a fantastic ride,” Shukla said in Hindi after liftoff. “This isn’t just the start of my journey to the International Space Station — it’s the beginning of India’s human space program.”Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailed the successful launch.”He carries with him the wishes, hopes and aspirations of 1.4 billion Indians. Wish him and other astronauts all the success!” he wrote on X.All three countries are footing the bill for their astronauts. Hungary announced in 2022 it was paying $100 million for its seat, according to spacenews.com. India and Poland have not disclosed how much they are spending.”We’ve got this! Poland has reached for the stars,” Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on X, alongside a video himself watching the launch on a screen at the Copernicus Science Centre in Warsaw.”Who knows how many future Polish astronauts watched Slawosz’s launch with me? Everyone was very excited and very proud,” Tusk said in another post, which included a photo of him seated next to several children at the science center.- Space spat -The Ax-4 launch comes after technical issues delayed the mission, originally slated for early June.It also follows an online spat between US President Donald Trump and SpaceX chief Elon Musk, the world’s richest person and, until recently, Trump’s ally and advisor.Trump threatened to yank SpaceX’s federal contracts — worth tens of billions of dollars — prompting Musk to threaten an early retirement of Dragon, the only US spacecraft currently certified to carry astronauts to the ISS.Musk walked back the threat a few hours later and in the days that followed continued to deescalate, stating on X that he had gone “too far.”Any rupture between SpaceX and the US government would be massively disruptive, given NASA and the Pentagon’s reliance on Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy to send up crew, cargo, satellites and probes.But for now, analysts believe both sides are too entangled to risk a serious break.The Ax-4 flight marks the debut of the fifth and final Crew Dragon vehicle, which was named “Grace” after it reached orbit joining Endeavour, Resilience, Endurance and Freedom in the active fleet.”It reflects the elegance with which we move through space against the backdrop of Earth,” said Commander Whitson. “It speaks to the refinement of our mission, the harmony of science and spirit and the unmerited favor we carry with humility.”SpaceX ultimately plans to phase out its current vehicles in the 2030s in favor of Starship, its giant next-generation rocket currently in development.

At the usually bustling border crossing of Poipet between Thailand and Cambodia, tuk-tuk driver San Noeun now has to work overnight to make ends meet.Thailand has all but closed the land crossings in seven border provinces as a territorial dispute with Cambodia that erupted into deadly military clashes last month festers.Cambodians living near the checkpoint in Poipet — the main land crossing between the two neighbours — say they are worried about the conflict escalating.San Noeun, 64, said the dispute had badly impacted small businesses and people like himself who earn hand-to-mouth from daily commuters around the border.”Since the border dispute, we cannot make much money,” he told AFP, adding he could previously make around $18 a day. “It causes trouble to our livelihood.” He wrung his hands in an appeal to both the Cambodian and Thai authorities to end the dispute and re-open the border.”Please don’t use weapons. I don’t want to see a war anymore. I am so tired of it,” he said. – Quiet casinos -Poipet — a busy casino city popular with Thai gamblers and known for underground cyberscam operations — is dotted with new construction projects.But since the gates on the Cambodian and Thai sides were both locked, the border crossing has fallen unusually quiet.Local residents told AFP there are fewer people around in the evenings, and those that do come are spending less.San Noeun said he usually drives many foreign casino workers around “but they don’t come out to hang around now”.Chhan Siyoeung, 54, a shoe vendor with a store about a kilometre (0.6 miles) from the Thai border, also bemoaned a drop in sales due to fewer commuters.”When there is a problem like this, people don’t want to spend money,” she said.”I am so scared, but I cannot go anywhere else. If I stay here, I could make some money.”She said military violence would see local Thais and Cambodians suffer the most, and urged authorities not to take up arms.In the flimsy hut where he stays with his son, San Noeun is also afraid. “I am a bit scared. We do not have a bunker.”He had just returned with 200 baht ($6) after offering an overnight ride-hailing service.”It is very hard now. We do not make enough money for day-to-day expenses,” he said, fretting over his $2,000 debt to a bank.Despite the hardship, some told AFP they were confident they could ride out the hardships of the border dispute.”It is quiet, So it is a bit difficult to do business,” fruit vendor Pov Bal, 34, said. “But it should be okay.”

Former players, including Sunil Gavaskar, tore into India Wednesday, blaming lower-order batting failures, poor bowling and sloppy fielding for the chastening first Test defeat at Headingley.A young India team, under new captain Shubman Gill and without the retired Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, went down by five wickets as England comfortably chased what should have been a daunting 371 to win on Tuesday’s final day.Five India batsmen, including Gill, scored hundreds, but two collapses — from 430-3 to 471 all out in the first innings and 333-4 to 364 in the second — kept England in the game.India put down several catches, with Yashasvi Jaiswal dropping Ben Duckett on 97 on the final day — and the opener went on to score 149 to set up victory.”Full credit to England. Despite India having five centurions, they seemed to have that confidence,” Gavaskar said on Sony Sports.”That is what made them take the final wickets. So that is where India also missed out because those extra runs could have made the difference,” added the former captain.”As far as the fielding was concerned, it’s just not the catches, but the outfielding was pretty ordinary. Not Test class.”Hopefully, lessons have been learned.”Pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah took 5-83 in the first innings, but was blunted by England during the winning chase and went wicketless.Veteran left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja was expected to be a force on a wearing fifth-day wicket, but he took just 1-104 as Duckett mercilessly reverse swept him for a series of boundaries, including one majestic six over deep cover.”I’m going to be critical of Jadeja because this is a final-day pitch,” former India batsman Sanjay Manjrekar said.”There was rough for him to play with, and in the end, I know there were a couple of chances there, but we have to expect more from Jadeja.”India head coach Gautam Gambhir defended his lower-order batsmen.”I think they were more disappointed than anyone, because they knew we had the opportunity,” said Gambhir.”Hopefully they’ll learn, and hopefully we’ll get better performances from our tail.”

Efforts to vaccinate children against deadly diseases are faltering across the world due to economic inequality, Covid-era disruptions and misinformation, putting millions of lives at risk, research warned Wednesday.These trends all increase the threat of future outbreaks of preventable diseases, the researchers said, while sweeping foreign aid cuts threaten previous progress in vaccinating the world’s children.A new study published in The Lancet journal looked at childhood vaccination rates across 204 countries and territories.It was not all bad news. An immunisation programme by the World Health Organization was estimated to have saved an estimated 154 million lives over the last 50 years.And vaccination coverage against diseases such as diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, measles, polio and tuberculosis doubled between 1980 and 2023, the international team of researchers found.However the gains slowed in the 2010s, when measles vaccinations decreased in around half of the countries, with the largest drop in Latin America. Meanwhile in more than half of all high-income countries there were declines in coverage for at least one vaccine dose.Then the Covid-19 pandemic struck. Routine vaccination services were hugely disrupted during lockdowns and other measures, resulting in nearly 13 million extra children who never received any vaccine dose between 2020 to 2023, the study said.This disparity endured, particularly in poorer countries. In 2023, more than half of the world’s 15.7 million completely unvaccinated children lived in just eight countries, the majority in sub-Saharan Africa, according to the study.In the European Union, 10 times more measles cases were recorded last year compared to 2023.In the United States, a measles outbreak surged past 1,000 cases across 30 states last month, which is already more than were recorded in all of 2024.Cases of polio, long eradicated in many areas thanks to vaccination, have been rising in Pakistan and Afghanistan, while Papua New Guinea is currently enduring a polio outbreak.- ‘Tragedy’ -“Routine childhood vaccinations are among the most powerful and cost-effective public health interventions available,” said senior study author Jonathan Mosser of the US-based Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME).”But persistent global inequalities, challenges from the Covid pandemic, and the growth of vaccine misinformation and hesitancy have all contributed to faltering immunisation progress,” he said in a statement. In addition, there are “rising numbers of displaced people and growing disparities due to armed conflict, political volatility, economic uncertainty, climate crises,” added lead study author Emily Haeuser, also from the IHME.The researchers warned the setbacks could threaten the WHO’s goal of having 90 percent of the world’s children and adolescents receive essential vaccines by 2030.The WHO also aims to halve the number of children who have received no vaccine doses by 2030 compared to 2019 levels.Just 18 countries have achieved this so far, according to the study, which was funded by the Gates Foundation and the Gavi vaccine alliance.The global health community has also been reeling since President Donald Trump’s administration drastically slashed US international aid earlier this year.”For the first time in decades, the number of kids dying around the world will likely go up this year instead of down because of massive cuts to foreign aid,” Bill Gates said in a separate statement on Tuesday.”That is a tragedy,” the Microsoft co-founder said, committing $1.6 billion to Gavi, which is holding a fund-raising summit in Brussels on Wednesday.

Mosquito-borne dengue fever was rarely a major problem in Bangladesh’s coastal districts, but some hospitals are so full of those with the potentially deadly virus that patients are treated on the floor.As climate change drives erratic weather patterns, experts point to a dire lack of clean drinking water in the wider delta — where the snaking Brahmaputra and Ganges rivers reach the sea — as a likely driving force for the surge.Rakibul Islam Rajan said his two-year-old daughter keeps searching for her mother, Azmeri Mona Lisa Zareen, who died of dengue in early June in the southern region of Barisal.”Zareen developed high fever… her blood pressure collapsed — and then she couldn’t breathe,” said 31-year-old Rajan.”Our daughter keeps searching for her from one room to another”.In the worst cases, intense viral fevers trigger bleeding, internally or from the mouth and nose.Barisal has recorded nearly half of the 7,500 dengue cases across Bangladesh this year, according to the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR).Five people have died there this year with dengue fever, out of 31 deaths recorded across the entire country of some 170 million people.Numbers are still far below the deadly outbreak of 2023, when more than 1,700 people died across the South Asian nation, and more than 200,000 were infected.In the Barisal district of Barguna, the hospital is packed full.Barisal health chief Shyamol Krishna Mondal said it was the “worst we’ve seen”.Barguna’s 250-bed public hospital was coping with more than 200 dengue patients.”We couldn’t even offer beds,” Mondal said. “They are getting treatment while lying on the floor.”Kabirul Bashar, an expert on disease at Jahangirnagar University, said a lack of clean water was “one of the major reasons”.People store rainwater in containers, exactly the conditions mosquitoes love.”The water distribution system is almost absent,” Bashar said.- ‘Vulnerability is soaring’ -While a lack of clean water is a long-running problem, climate change is making it worse.Rising seas driven by climate change threaten swathes of low-lying Bangladesh, with increasing numbers of powerful storms bringing seawater further inland, turning wells and lakes salty, according to government scientists.Changing weather patterns, making once predictable rains uncertain, adds to the challenge — with people storing rainwater when they can.But Mushtuq Husain, a public health expert and adviser at IEDCR, said that the plentiful water storage pots also provided perfect mosquito breeding sites.”We can’t allow water stagnation anywhere — that should be the rule of thumb, but it’s not happening,” he said.”The vulnerability is soaring because of the high temperatures and erratic rainfall, which are conducive to mosquito breeding.”Bangladesh has recorded cases of dengue since the 1960s but documented its first outbreak of dengue haemorrhagic fever, a severe and sometimes fatal form of the disease, in 2000.The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that dengue and other mosquito-borne viruses are spreading faster and further due to climate change.About half of the world’s population is now at risk of dengue, with an estimated 100 to 400 million infections occurring each year, and many of those causing only mild illness, according to the WHO.Rajan, mourning his wife, worries that there will be more deaths to come, accusing local authorities of failing to stem mosquitoes.”Dengue has taken her,” he said of his late wife. “I don’t know how many more are in the queue… but I don’t see enough cleanup activities.”

Rishabh Pant became the first India batsman to score hundreds in both innings of a Test against England on Monday’s fourth day at Headingley before the hosts hit back to set up a dramatic finale to the series opener.England, with all their wickets standing, will head into Tuesday’s final day needing a further 350 runs to reach a target of 371 as they bid to go 1-0 up in a five-match series. India were threatening to bat England out of the game while Pant, who made 134 in the first innings, completed a 130-ball century, including 13 fours and two sixes, before falling for 118.The swashbuckling wicketkeeper received excellent support from opener Rahul, who made 137 in a fourth-wicket partnership of 195 that started when India were faltering at 92-3 in their second innings.But from the relative safety of 333-4, India lost their last six wickets for 31 runs as they slumped to 364 all out.Fast bowler Josh Tongue did the bulk of the damage in a burst of three wickets in four balls.Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett survived a potentially tricky six-over spell to take England to 21-0 at stumps.- ‘Blockbuster finish’ -“It’s a blockbuster finish waiting tomorrow (Tuesday),” Rahul told Sky Sports after stumps.He added: “Someone’s got to win tomorrow, it’ll be an interesting day. The wicket is not as easy as the first innings, they (England) won’t find it as easy to hit the ball on the rise. “Even if they get a big partnership, if we get a couple of wickets we’ll be right in the game.”Tongue, meanwhile was proud of England’s resilience, saying: “It’s very exciting. To get them all out at the end of the day and to not lose a wicket was crucial.”Tongue, who finished with innings figures of 3-72 in 18 overs, added: “I do enjoy bowling at the tail, it’s a good opportunity to get wickets.”India also collapsed in the first innings. Despite hundreds from captain Shubman Gill, Pant and Yashasvi Jaiswal, they were dismissed for 471 after losing their last seven wickets for 41 runs.The outstanding Jasprit Bumrah, the world’s top-ranked Test bowler, took five wickets in England’s first-innings 465 and will be the danger man for India on Tuesday.England, however, have succeeded in pulling off some dramatic run-chases in their ‘Bazball’ era under coach Brendon McCullum and captain Ben Stokes  They reached a target of 378 — their record successful fourth-innings chase in Test cricket — against a Bumrah-led India attack at Edgbaston three years ago.Pant is just the second wicketkeeper in Test history to score hundreds in both innings of the same match following Andy Flower’s scores of 142 and 199 not out for Zimbabwe against South Africa in 2001.After a morning session in which India skipper Gill was the only batsman dismissed, Rahul and Pant upped the tempo in their contrasting styles.Pant completed an 83-ball fifty before driving Shoaib Bashir for two soaring sixes in three balls.Rahul took 202 balls to reach his century, featuring 13 fours, with a trademark cover-drive — his ninth hundred in 59 Tests.Pant, severely injured in a life-threatening car crash in December 2022, was stuck in the 90s before a quick single took him to his century.Rahul eventually played on to Brydon Carse before Tongue dismissed Shardul Thakur and Mohammed Siraj with successive deliveries. Bumrah survived the hat-trick but was bowled next ball by Tongue with Prasidh Krishna out for a duck as well when he holed out off Bashir to end the innings. 

Rishabh Pant’s swashbuckling style may not be the textbook technique of great Indian batsman of old, but the diminutive wicketkeeper wrote his name into the history books at Headingley on Monday.The 27-year-old became the first Indian to score hundreds in both innings of a Test against England to give his side the edge heading into a fascinating final day of the first of a five-match series.His fourth Test century in England also saw Pant become only the second wicketkeeper in 148 years of Test history, after Zimbabwe’s Andy Flower, to score twin centuries in the same match.Having already made 134 in India’s first-innings 471, he came out to bat with the game delicately poised in the tourists’ second innings at 92-3.True to form, though, Pant went about turning the screw in his own style.He almost knocked himself off his feet when hacking his second ball narrowly over the slip cordon before advancing up the pitch to slap Chris Woakes down the ground.But those shots were as nothing compared to a kneeling slog-sweep off an 87 mile-per-hour (140 kmh) delivery from England fast bowler Brydon Carse.Shoaib Bashir was then dispatched for two sixes in three balls, even if Pant put the breaks on for spells of the early part of his innings.All the while KL Rahul looked on from the other end, the opener’s more traditional 137 a counterpoint to vice-captain Pant’s whirlwind 118 during a fourth-wicket stand of 195.Rahul — who took 202 balls for his century, 72 more than Pant needed to reach three figures — said after stumps: “I’ve had a few partnerships with Pant. It’s hard for us to understand his mindset.”You’ve got to let Rishabh Pant be Rishabh Pant, there’s obviously a method to his madness! He’s averaging (around) 45 in Test cricket, there’s a lot of thinking behind the outrageous shots he plays.”– $3 million man –Born in Haridwar, Uttarakhand, Pant’s mother would regularly make the four-hour drive so her young son could receive cricket training in the major centre of Delhi, with the pair often staying in a Sikh temple as they could not afford the cost of accommodation.Pant came under the influence of the late Tarak Sinha, a coach who had already launched the likes of Manoj Prabhakar and Shikhar Dhawan on their way to careers as India cricketers.A year after making his debut in India’s first-class Ranji Trophy debut aged 18 in 2015, Pant scored a triple-hundred against Maharashtra.He was on his way, with Pant’s first Test century coming in just his third match, on the 2018 tour of England.The following year his stunning 159 off 189 balls in a total of 622 in Sydney sealed India’s first series win in Australia against an attack used to dominating in home conditions.And in Brisbane in 2021, an unbeaten 89 guided an injury-hit India to their second series win in Australia in two visits as he defied bowlers of the calibre of Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Pat Cummins and Nathan Lyon.However, Pant’s promising career and life were nearly cut short in a horror car crash in December 2022 when he had to punch his way out of the overturned vehicle as it burst into flames.After 15 months on the sidelines, many wondered if he would return to the professional game.But his comeback was so successful that Lucknow Super Giants made him the record signing in the Indian Premier League (IPL) when they splashed out $3.21 million for his services at last year’s November auction.He arrived in England with questions over his form after striking hust 128 runs in 10 IPL innings this IPL season.But Pant showed his class is permanent by putting England to the sword in some style.

A Bangladesh court on Monday remanded in custody the former elections chief for his alleged role in rigging the vote in favour of now-ousted autocrat Sheikh Hasina.KM Nurul Huda, 77, was ordered to be detained for four days while questioning continues, a day after a mob who smashed into his home and assaulted him eventually handed him to the police.On Sunday, the powerful Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) filed a case against Huda and other former election commissioners it accuses of rigging past polls in favour of Hasina, whose 15 years in power ended in an mass uprising in August 2024.Hours after the case was filed, a mob stormed Huda’s home in the capital Dhaka, and dragged him onto the street.They put a garland of shoes around his neck and beat him up before handing him over to the police.The interim government condemned the incident and urged people not to take the law into their own hands.”Swooping on an accused and physically assaulting him is illegal, contrary to the rule of law, and a criminal offence,” the statement read.Interim leader Muhammad Yunus has said elections will be held in early April 2026 — the first in the South Asian nation of around 170 million people since the student-led revolt ousted Hasina.Police put a helmet on Huda while taking him to the court for his protection.   Human rights organisations also condemned the attack on Huda.”It was a complete violation of… the rule of law,” Abu Ahmed Faijul Kabir from the rights group Ain O Salish Kendra said in a statement.Yunus’s government warned last month that political power struggles risked jeopardising gains that have been made, saying that holding elections by mid-2026 would give them time to overhaul democratic institutions.Hasina’s rule saw widespread human rights abuses and her government was accused of politicising courts and the civil service, as well as staging lopsided elections.Hasina, 77, remains in self-imposed exile in India, where she fled after she was ousted last year.She has defied orders to return to Dhaka to face charges amounting to crimes against humanity. Her trial in absentia continues.

When wedding season comes in India, the phone of child rights activist Tatwashil Kamble never stops ringing with appeals to stop girls from being married off due to poverty.Kamble said he has helped stop thousands of illegal marriages in India, where nuptials before the age of 18 are banned. “The elders of the village think: ‘How dare we come to stop a marriage in their village!'” said Kamble, who has been campaigning for more than a decade in western Maharashtra state.Many families are motivated by poverty to marry off their daughters, so that the girls can start earning their own living.When activists have sought to stop marriages, “it has led to physical altercations”, according to Kamble. Sometimes they are able to stop the nuptials from taking place, or, if they arrive too late, then the bride is taken to a shelter and supported in deciding on her own future.India accounts for one in three of the world’s child brides, according to the UN children’s agency, with at least 1.5 million girls getting married each year.Kamble said he is driven by the bitter memory of seeing a teenager die of blood loss during labour.”That’s when I thought: so many young girls are getting married and, even after their death, it’s not being called child marriage. They are saying ‘the mother has died'” without acknowledging she was a girl.- Wedding hotline -Kamble works in the Beed district of Maharashtra, an area dominated by sprawling sugarcane fields hit hard by years of drought.Workers said they have little choice but to marry their daughters off young — arguing they do it to protect the girl, not harm her. “It is not like we don’t like the idea of education,” said Manisha Barde, a sugarcane cutter who was a child bride herself. “We want her to become a doctor.”Barde, however, arranged for her teenage daughter to be married only to be stopped by authorities.She did so because they were poor and, if they had “better jobs, we wouldn’t have thought of her marriage”.Farm labourers said that when their children are little, relatives look after them or they come to the fields.But when the girls become teenagers, their parents begin to worry — either that they could start a relationship before marriage, or be subjected to sexual violence.”There are very few girls who stay unmarried until 18,” said Ashok Tangde, district chief of the child welfare committee.”I have seen girls who have never seen a school,” he said.Families worry for “the girl’s safety”, Tangde said, and even those opposed to child marriage can end up organising a wedding.Tangde said his team received 321 calls from across the district about child marriages that were taking place, or about to happen, in the first five months of this year.During peak wedding season, which runs from October to March, Tangde said he gets around 10 to 15 calls daily, which prompt his team and other activists to raid ceremonies.- ‘Do the right thing’ -Tangde has a dedicated network of activists and other informants who help in villages across the district, sending photographs of weddings.”There are some people who want to do the right thing,” he said.Sometimes the bride calls directly. Other times, a guest rings and makes the authorities listen to the wedding music. “Disrupting a wedding… there is a lot of drama,” said Tangde. “People get ready to beat up those who go to stop such marriages.”Jyoti Thorat was 16 when her parents married her off to a 20-year-old man, ending her hopes of continuing school and joining the police.”My parents fixed it, and I wasn’t happy,” Thorat said, a decade later and a mother of two schoolboys.Her older sisters had also been married off before they turned 18, with her parents prioritising getting their only son educated.Thorat recalled with despair how work cutting cane beckoned soon after her wedding, a fate that awaits other girls. “They have to start working as sugarcane workers that same year,” she said. “A machete is ready for them.”

The first Test between Bangladesh and Sri Lanka fizzled out into a damp draw on Saturday, with rain robbing the match in Galle of a proper climax.Sri Lanka were set a tall order of 296 in 37 overs and were tottering at 72-4 when stumps were drawn 9.5 overs into the final hour, with both captains shaking hands and accepting no result was possible.The day belonged to Bangladesh skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto, who scored centuries in both innings. “We were low on confidence coming into the series but this was a very good Test match,” he said.”We wanted to declare early but rain forced us to rethink.”Shanto made an unbeaten 125 in the second innings after posting 148 in his first dig.It was the second time he had achieved the feat, scoring two centuries in a match against Afghanistan in 2023.However, questions will linger over his captaincy. In pursuit of his landmark, Shanto might have taken his eye off the larger prize.Bangladesh were 247 runs ahead when play resumed after a rain delay and, with 50 overs still to be bowled on the day, an earlier declaration could have forced a result. Instead, Bangladesh batted on for 12 more overs and, with the innings break taken into account, more than an hour of potentially valuable time was lost on a wearing fifth-day pitch.The delay gave Sri Lanka some hope but their top order crumbled under pressure. Lahiru Udara was stumped off a cleverly flighted delivery by Taijul Islam, while Pathum Nissanka gifted his wicket to Nayeem Hasan by spooning one straight to short mid-wicket.Taijul struck two crucial blows, removing the experienced Angelo Mathews and Dinesh Chandimal in quick succession, but time ran out for Bangladesh.Mathews, playing his 119th and final Test, walked off to a standing ovation as the crowd rose for one of Sri Lanka’s greats. “I can’t believe the love I have received,” said Mathews. “It’s now up to the younger players to carry the baton and run.”There was a silver lining for Sri Lanka in the form of debutant Tharindu Rathnayake. A six-wicket haul from two innings on his debut was praiseworthy enough but Rathnayake also showcased his rare ambidextrous skills. He dismissed Mominul Haque with off-spin, then switched to left-arm orthodox to account for Litton Das and Jaker Ali. He also pulled off a sensational run out, firing a direct hit from mid-on to catch Mushfiqur Rahim short of his ground on 49. The second Test will be played in Colombo next week.Brief scores:Bangladesh first innings: 495 all out (Mushfiqur Rahim 163, Najmul Hossain Shanto 148, Litton Das 90; Asitha Fernando 4-86)Sri Lanka first innings: 485 all out (Pathum Nissanka 187, Kamindu Mendis 87, Dinesh Chandimal 54; Nayeem Hasan 5-121)Bangladesh second innings: 285 for six declared (Najmul Hossain Shanto 125 not out, Shadman Islam 76; Tharindu Rathnayake 3-102)Sri Lanka second innings: 72 for four (Pathum Nissanka 24; Taijul Islam 3-23)