PALLEKELE: Left-arm spinner Praveen Jayawickrama took six wickets on debut to dismiss Bangladesh for 251 and give Sri Lanka a commanding lead on Saturday on day three of the second Test.

The 22-year-old Jayawickrama’s 6-92 bettered Upul Chandana’s record of 6-179 in 1999 when he won his first cap against Pakistan in Dhaka.

Jayawickrama, a replacement for the injured Lasith Embuldeniya, has had a modest record in first-class cricket, but impressed at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium giving Sri Lanka a healthy 242-run first-innings lead.

He was backed by off-spinner Ramesh Mendis who took two wickets.

Sri Lanka, who declared earlier in the day on 493-7, did not enforce the follow-on and were 17 for two at stumps with two days’ play remaining and a 259-run lead.

The tourists had got off to a solid start with the openers adding 98 runs for the first wicket.

Jayawickrama then claimed his maiden Test wicket when Saif Hassan was caught at gully for 25. Ramesh Mendis then accounted for Najmul Shanto for a duck in the next over.

A 52-run stand followed between Tamim and captain Mominul Haque before Jayawickrama broke the stand. Tamim’s outside edge was grabbed by Lahiru Thirimanne at slips.

Mushfiqur Rahim and Mominul were rebuilding the innings as Bangladesh reached 200 without trouble but in the last over before tea, Jaya­w­ickrama trapped Mushfiqur leg before wicket for 40.

In the final session, Bangladesh collapsed, losing six wickets for 27 runs.

Resuming from their overnight score of 469-6, Sri Lanka declared after 3.3 overs having added 24 runs. The declaration came 15 minutes into the morning session after Mendis was dismissed to end a 111-run partnership with Niroshan Dickwella (77 not out) for the seventh wicket.

Taskin Ahmed picked up career best figures of four for 127. Sri Lanka risk falling to their lowest world ran­kings position if they fail to beat Bang­ladesh in this second and final Test. The first Test ended in a draw after a festival of runs with the two sides scoring 1,289 runs for the loss of just 17 wickets over the five days.

Scoreboard

SRI LANKA (1st Innings, overnight 469-6):

F.D.M. Karunaratne c Liton b Shoriful 118

H.D.R.L. Thirimanne c Liton b Taskin 140

B.O.P. Fernando c Liton b Mehidy 81

A.D. Mathews c Liton b Taskin 5

D.M. de Silva c Shanto b Taijul 2

P. Nissanka b Taskin 30

N. Dickwella not out 77

W.R.T. Mendis c Mushfiqur b Taskin 33

EXTRAS (B-3, LB-2, W-1, NB-1) 7

TOTAL (for seven wkts decl, 159.2 overs) 493

FALL OF WKTS: 1-209, 2-313, 3-319, 4-328, 5-382, 6-382, 7-493.

DID NOT BAT: R.A.S. Lakmal, M.V.T. Fernando, P. Jayawickrama.

BOWLING: Abu Jayed 22-4-69-0 (1nb, 1w); Taskin Ahmed 34.2-7-127-4; Mehidy Hasan 36-7-118-1; Shoriful Islam 29-6-91-1; Taijul Islam 38-7-83-1.

BANGLADESH (1st Innings):

Tamim Iqbal c Thirimanne b Jayawickrama 92

Saif Hassan c de Silva b Jayawickrama 25

Najmul Shanto c Thirimanne b Mendis 0

Mominul Haque lbw b Mendis 49

Mushfiqur Rahim lbw b Jayawickrama 40

Liton Das c Thirimanne b Jayawickrama 8

Mehidy Hasan lbw b Jayawickrama 16

Taijul Islam hit wicket b Lakmal 9

Taskin Ahmed lbw b Jayawickrama 0

Shoriful Islam b Lakmal 0

Abu Jayed not out 0

EXTRAS (B-2, LB-9, NB-1) 12

TOTAL (all out, 83 overs) 251

FALL OF WKTS: 1-98, 2-99, 3-151, 4-214, 5-224, 6-224, 7-241, 8-243, 9-246.

BOWLING: Lakmal 10-0-30-2; Fernando 7-1-19-0 (1nb); Mathews 2-0-7-0; Mendis 31-7-86-2; Jayawickrama 32-7-92-6; de Silva 1-0-6-0.

SRI LANKA (2nd Innings):

H.D.R.L. Thirimanne c Najmul b Mehidy 2

F.D.M. Karunaratne not out 13

B.O.P. Fernando st Liton b Taijul 1

Angelo Mathews not out 1

EXTRAS 0

TOTAL (for two wkts, 7 overs) 17

FALL OF WKTS: 1-14, 2-15.

BOWLING (to-date): Mehidy Hasan 4-2-7-1; Shoriful Islam 1-0-8-0; Taijul Islam 2-1-2-1.

Published in Dawn, May 2nd, 2021