Related Links : Bangladesh in Sri Lanka 2007 : Scorecard
It was a day of centuries at the Sinhalese Sports Club Ground. Yesterday’s two settled batsmen Michael Vandort and Mahela Jayawardene completed their centuries while wicket keeper Prasanna Jayawardene and Chaminda Vaas came up with their maiden tons.
The Sri Lankans declared their innings immediately after Chaminda Vaas had reached his century with a total of 577 for 6 in reply to Bangladesh’s 89. Bangladesh got to bat out for 3 overs which they did without losing any wicket. Sri Lankan opener Michael Vandort was the first one to get to his three figures but his innings couldn’t go beyond 117. Same was the case with Skipper Mahela Jayawardene, who resumed his innings on 93 having retired hurt yesterday. Mahela fell making 127. Tillakaratne Dilshan was the only one to miss out on a century after having made a strokeful 79.
For Chaminda Vaas, this was the 141st innings he was playing for SL. One of his dreams of scoring a test match century came true after toiling hard for 13 long years. His innings was a case of pure concentration and patience which he always has. There were plenty of loose deliveries or “help yourself” deliveries from the Bangladeshi bowlers. Vaas took complete advantage of all the full tosses and long hops and so did Prasanna Jayawardene who stayed unbeaten on 120. Sri Lanka went on with a good rate of over 4.2. The test match is heading towards a third day finish, an innings defeat is most likely to happen.