Sri Lanka clinch innings victory

Second Test, Colombo, day three: Sri Lanka 457-9 dec beat Bangladesh 191 & 197 by an innings and 69 runs
Sri Lanka win series 2-0

Scorecard

Vaas now needs only six more wickets to reach 300 in Tests

Chaminda Vaas and Rangana Herath took three wickets each as Sri Lanka beat Bangladesh by an innings and 69 runs in the second Test in Colombo.

The home side took just 26.4 overs on the third day to bowl out Bangladesh for 197 and complete a 2-0 series win.

Vaas quickly removed Mohammad Ashraful (26) and Shahadat Hossain after Bangladesh had resumed on 131-4.

Aftab Ahmed (25) and Khaled Mashud (18) survived for an hour but the last four wickets went down for only 25 runs.

"We have a tremendous amount of cricket coming up in the next six months and it was important to maintain the momentum in this series.

"We produced a good all-round performance and I suppose the only slight concern was that the top order batsmen could have done better," Sri Lanka skipper Marvan Atapattu commented.

In his 100th Test appearance, it was fitting that Sanath Jayasuriya should be involved in the final dismissal when he caught Syed Rasel at mid-off to give left-arm spinner Herath final figures of 3-52.

But the early damage was done by Vaas (3-36), who had Ashraful caught low at first slip by Thilan Samaraweera and bowled night-watchman Hossain in successive overs - the latter offering no stroke to an in-swinging delivery.

Herath ended the Aftab/Mashud partnership, dismissing Aftab as Samaraweera claimed his third catch of the innings, and Mashud then fell lbw to Muttiah Muralitharan.

Next to go was Mohammad Rafique, who was bowled off his pads by Herath for nine and the end came two overs later.

The result was a big disappointment was Bangladesh, who had Sri Lanka 48-4 on the opening day before centuries by Tillakaratne Dilshan and Man of the Match Samaraweera saw them to a score of 457-9 declared.

"We had a chance to dismiss them for less than 250 but Dilshan and Samaraweera batted really well and their first innings score was a bit too many in the end," said captain Habibul Bashar.

"The only positive (for us) was the two new ball bowlers, Rasel and Hossain, who bowled really well on a flat track."

Bangladesh coach Dav Whatmore, meanwhile, vowed to continue to stay in the job and help the team develop.

His current contract lasts until the 2007 World Cup and he said: "I will continue to push the cause of Bangladesh cricket."

But he added: "As soon as I feel I am not wanted or not doing a good job I will go, like I did with Sri Lanka in 1996 before my contract expired."