Pallekele, May 3 (UNI) Praveen Jayawickrama's superb bowling performance (11 wickets) on debut helped Sri Lanka beat by Bangladesh 209 runs in the second test and clinch the series 1-0, here on Monday.
Jayawickrama's figures of 11 for 178 made him the first Sri Lankan to claim a 10-wicket haul on debut and the first bowler to take a 10-wicket haul on debut since Australia's Jason Krejza.
He is also the first bowler since Narendra Hirwani in 1988 to pick up two five-wicket hauls in his debut match.
Bangladesh were bowled out for 251 in its first innings in reply to Sri Lanka’s 493-7. Despite a first-innings lead of 242, Sri Lanka did not enforce the follow-on, instead they batted again and declared on 194-9 to set Bangladesh a target of 437.
The day began with Bangladesh resuming on 177/5, with Liton Das and Mehidy Hasan in the middle. Bangladesh's hopes of a chase suffered an early blow when Jayawickrama trapped Liton lbw in his second over of the day.
With 254 runs required to win, Mehidy Hasan continued his efforts to chase down the target but didn't receive adequate support from the other end. Dhananjaya de Silva sent Taijul Islam packing for 2 after drawing an edge, finding Dickwella behind the stumps.
Thereafter, Ramesh Mendis added to Bangladesh's woes when he claimed the wicket of Taskin Ahmed.
Praveen Jayawickrama dealt the final blows, bagging the wickets of Mehidy Hasan and Abu Jayed in the same over, pushing his wicket tally to 11 wickets.
It was Sri Lanka’s first test win in more than a year, ending a run of eight tests without a victory. The first test in this series had ended a draw.
Jayawickrama was adjudged the Player of the Match while Dimuth Karunaratne was named the Player of the Series.
UNI AVK SHK1617