Herath spins Sri Lanka to Test victory

Sri Lanka have bowled out Bangladesh for 197 to win the first cricket Test in Galle by 259 runs.

Sri Lanka's Rangana Herath became the most successful left-arm spinner in Test cricket and bowled his team to an emphatic 259-run victory against Bangladesh in Galle.

Leading the side in the absence of injured captain Angelo Mathews, Herath mowed down the Bangladesh middle and lower order to finish with second innings bowling figures of 6-59.

The tourists, chasing a world record total of 457 for victory, were all for 197 an hour after the lunch break on day five.

Bangladesh began the final day needing 390 runs for an improbable win at a ground where no team has scored more than 300 in the fourth innings and 99 for a winning total.

They received an early jolt, losing opener Soumya Sarkar to the second delivery of the day.

Sarkar could not add to his overnight score of 53 and was bowled by Asela Gunaratne and they kept losing wickets regularly.

Bangladesh captain Mushfiqur Rahim (34) joined forces with Liton Das (35) to hold off Sri Lanka's victory charge for 19-odd overs before the wheels came off.

Herath struck twice in the 27th over, dismissing Shakib Al Hasan and Mahmudullah in the space of three balls to equal New Zealander Daniel Vettori's 362 Test wickets mark.

Herath, who turns 39 on March 19, dismissed Liton Das to enter the record books and went on to complete a nine-wicket match haul, which took his tally to 366 in 79 matches.

Colombo hosts the second and final Test next week.


Share

2 min read

Published

Source: AAP



Share this with family and friends


Get SBS News daily and direct to your Inbox

Sign up now for the latest news from Australia and around the world direct to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Download our apps
SBS News
SBS Audio
SBS On Demand

Listen to our podcasts
An overview of the day's top stories from SBS News
Interviews and feature reports from SBS News
Your daily ten minute finance and business news wrap with SBS Finance Editor Ricardo Gonçalves.
A daily five minute news wrap for English learners and people with disability
Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS
SBS World News

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service
Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world