Close Sri Lanka 301 for 8 (Jayasuriya 85, Vandort 61, Samaraweera 58)
scorecard

Sanath Jayasuriya slammed 85 off 94 balls to pull his new-look Sri Lankan side out of a little bit of trouble on the first day of the second Test against Bangladesh.

Jayasuriya belted one six and nine fours as the Sri Lankans recovered from 133 for 4 to close on 301 for 8 at the SSC in Colombo. He added 127 for the fifth wicket with Thilan Samaraweera, whose patient 58 dragged his career batting average down to a mere 83.

Sri Lanka, who made seven changes from the team that won the first Test, started soundly as the left-handed Michael Vandort (61) added 60 for the first wicket with the debutant Jehan Mubarak (24). Vandort cracked 10 fours in what was his first Test fifty, in his second match.

Each side included three debutants, but the pick of the Bangladeshi bowlers was the relatively experienced Manjural Islam, who took 3 for 35 in 17 overs of lively left-arm seam bowling.

When Fahim Muntasir picked up a couple of quick wickets after lunch, including Hashan Tillekeratne for only 18, Sri Lanka had slipped from 90 for 1 to 133 for 4. Enter Jayasuriya and another withering assault. He looked set for a second consecutive century until he was caught behind off Manjural.

Three more wickets followed, but Sri Lanka will be confident that a total in excess of 300 will set them on their way to a tenth consecutive home Test victory, and their first without Muttiah Muralitharan since he made his debut in 1992.

© Wisden CricInfo Ltd