Close Sri Lanka 373 and 263 for 2 dec beat Bangladesh 164 and 184 (Ashraful 75, de Silva 4 for 35, Samaraweera 4 for 49) by 288 runs
scorecard

Sujeeva de Silva and Thilan Samaraweera made quick work of Bangladesh's batting order as Sri Lanka cantered to a 288-run victory before lunch on the fourth day of the second Test match at the Sinhalese Sports Club ground in Colombo. The hosts wrapped up the series 2-0, even as Bangladesh crashed to a 12th defeat in 13 Tests.

Resuming at 103 for 4, Bangladesh threatened some real resistance during the first hour, with Mohammed Ashraful and Alok Kapali adding 64 runs at a fair clip. Ashraful, who is the great hope of Bangladeshi cricket, put together another stylish innings, full of strokes on either side of the wicket. Kapali was a capable ally and for a brief while, Test cricket's minnows had something to cheer about. But once Samaraweera got rid of Kapali, caught bat-pad by Jehan Mubarak, the game was up. Kapali made 23 and in Samaraweera's very next over, Ashraful - who had raced to 75 - followed in almost identical fashion. That set the stage for the fat lady and a refrain that must sound increasingly sickening for the Bangladesh players.

Tapash Baisya cut a wide delivery from de Silva only for Upul Chandana to come up with a stunning catch at point and Fahim Muntasir followed soon after, struck on the toe plumb in front of the stumps.

Samaraweera finished things off in time for lunch, having both Manjural Islam and Talha Jubair caught at bat-pad by Hashan Tillekeratne and Mubarak respectively. Khaled Mashud remained unconquered on 13, a number that was certainly far from lucky for Bangladesh in this Test match.

Ultimately, it was another steamroller job for Sri Lanka, but Bangladesh could be forgiven for thinking what might have been after a disciplined bowling effort on the opening day. Now, they need to learn how to stay at the crease for more than two sessions.

© Wisden CricInfo Ltd