Sri Lanka on verge of 2-0 series victory

Sri Lanka players celebrate a dismissal 

Sri Lanka were on the verge of a 2-0 series triumph when they reduced Bangladesh to 268 for seven in the second innings on the fourth day of the second and final Test, which continued at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chattogram yesterday.
Bangladesh will come out to bat today needing a further 243 runs for victory and Sri Lanka will be looking to wrap up the Test having dominated all four days.
Lahiru Kumara, Prabath Jayasuriya and Kamindu Mendis did the damage as they captured two wickets each for the visitors while Mominul Haque hit a half century from 56 balls with the help of one six and eight boundaries.         
Earlier, Sri Lanka set Bangladesh an improbable 511-run for victory after declaring their second innings on 157 for seven, just half-an-hour before the lunch interval. 
Bangladesh negotiated the rest of the eight overs of the morning session and stayed unscathed to reach 31 for no loss with Mahmudul Joy batting on 19 with Zakir Hasan on 11.
Bangladesh’s highest successful chase in fourth innings in a Test is just 217, which they did against the West Indies in 2009 at St. George’s while the world record for a successful chase is 418, which the West Indies did against Australia.
Resuming the day at 102 for six, Sri Lanka pushed for quick runs with veteran Angelo Mathews leading the charge. He scored 56 runs off 74 balls, hitting five fours and was the only fallen wicket of Sri Lanka. 
Mathews ensured the bowlers enough time to take 10 wickets of the opponents in the rest of the five sessions of the match as his side is chasing a series sweep.
He received good support from Prabath Jayasuriya who was unbeaten on 28 having struck two boundaries.
Left-arm spinner Shakib Al Hasan gave Bangladesh the only breakthrough when he bowled Mathews, shortly after he raised his 41st Test fifty.
Sri Lanka dominated Bangladesh in the first innings to compile 531, the highest Test total without any batsman scoring a century.
Later they bowled Bangladesh out for 178 and took a huge 353-run lead but instead of enforcing the follow-on, Sri Lanka decided to bat again with an aim to bury Bangladesh under avalanche of runs. 
(Agencies)