Jayawickrama's six-wicket haul helps SL secure big lead

PALLEKELE: Left-arm spinner Praveen Jayawickrama's dream debut in which he picked six wickets for 92 runs helped Sri Lanka dismiss Bangladesh for 251 in their first innings of the second Test. Jayawickrama's returns, the best innings figures on Test debut for Sri Lanka, helped the home side secure a big lead.

Sri Lanka had earlier extended their first innings total to 493/7 in the morning, before declaring their innings closed. Niroshan Dickwella's quickfire 77 not out helped Sri Lanka approach the 500-run mark.

The home side were 17/2 at stumps with an overall lead of 242 runs.

In the morning, Bangladesh began their innings well, thanks to Tamim Iqbal's counter-attacking 92. He brought up his fifty in just 57 deliveries. This was his fourth consecutive half-century in the format.

At the stroke of lunch, the Sri Lankan spinners effected a double-blow on the visitors. Jayawickrama picked his maiden Test wicket, inducing an edge from Saif Hassan (25), who was caught in slips. Ramesh Mendis dismissed the new man Najmul Hossain Shanto for a duck in the very next over, and Bangladesh went to lunch at 99/2 in 27 overs.

After the break, Tamim joined forces with Mominul Haque to reorient Bangladesh's innings. The duo added 52 runs in 98 balls for the third wicket, and they looked good for a lot more. However, it was young Jayawickrama who confounded them again. A change of angle from the left-arm spinner brought about natural variation off the pitch. Tamim erred and was caught in slips for a 150-ball 92.

Brief scores: Sri Lanka 493/7 dec in 159.2 overs (L Thirimanne 140, D Karunarante 118, O Fernando 81, N Dickwella 77; T Ahmed 4/127, T Islam 1/83, S Islam 1/91) & 17/2 in 7 overs (D Karunaratne 13 batting, Mathews 1 batting; T Islam 1/2, M Miraz 1/7) vs Bangladesh 252/10 in 83 overs (Tamim 92, Mominul 49, Mushfiqur 40; Jayawickrama 6/92, S Lakmal 2/30, R Mendis 2/86). IANS

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