Tharanga and Jayawardene lead Sri Lanka to emphatic win

DHAKA, (Reuters) – Upul Tharanga and Mahela  Jayawardene struck centuries as Sri Lanka romped to a nine-wicket victory over Bangladesh in the tri-series One-day tournament in Dhaka yesterday.

Tharanga was unbeaten on 118 off 126 balls, smacking 18 fours for his eighth ODI century, while Jayawardene made 108 off 117 balls to help Sri Lanka race past Bangladesh’s modest 249 for nine with more than seven overs to spare.

Former skipper Jayawardene was first to reach his hundred  with a boundary through cover point and was finally caught by  wicketkeeper Mushfiqur Rahim off spinner Naeem Islam.

Jayawardene, who joined the squad after Tillakaratne Dilshan  suffered a groin injury, clubbed 13 fours for his 12th One-day  century.

Tharanga and Jayawardene shared 215 runs in the opening  stand.

Thisara Perera, Suraj Randiv and Nuwan Kulasakera grabbed  two wickets apiece to dent Bangladesh.

Skipper Shakib Al Hasan top-scored with 47 while Roqibul  Hasan and Imrul Kayes chipped in with 43 and 42 respectively.

Bangladesh took their batting powerplay in the 43rd over  with 199 runs for four wickets on the board but added only 32  runs and lost five wickets in the next five overs.

Sri Lanka will face India in their next match tomorrow.