Sri Lanka in control after day four

Sri Lanka extended their grip on the second Test against the West Indies on Saturday, reaching 128 for one in their second innings at the close of the fourth day, for an overall lead of 225.

Sanath Jayasuriya was the one wicket to fall, hitting seven fours in his 55 after sharing an opening stand of 89 with Marvan Atapattu.

Atapattu ended the day unbeaten on 58 while Kumar Sangakkara was on 10.

Earlier, Chaminda Vaas produced a lethal spell of reverse swing bowling as West Indies were dismissed for a paltry 191 midway through the afternoon.

The left-arm paceman snapped up four wickets for 12 in six overs as West Indies lost their last five wickets for just 24 runs.

Vaas finished with figures of four for 56 and off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan with four for 54 as the hosts took a first-innings lead of 98 runs with more than five sessions of play remaining in the match.

Left-handed Brian Lara, the last man to be dismissed, top-scored for West Indies with 74 before falling lbw to Muralitharan after batting for just over three hours.

Earlier, Muralitharan picked up three quick wickets as West Indies slumped to 129 for five at lunch.

The off-spinner, man of the match with 11 wickets in the first Test, bowled Ramnaresh Sarwan for 17 in his second over of the day, ending a 43-run second-wicket stand with Chris Gayle.

Opener Gayle was next to go, playing down the wrong line to be bowled by left-arm paceman Nuwan Zoysa for 44.

After switching ends, Muralitharan then sent back West Indies captain Carl Hooper for 23 and Marlon Samuels for no score.

Hooper survived two lbw appeals against Muralitharan before he was finally given out playing forward defensively.

Samuels lasted just 10 balls before he was beaten off the pitch and edged a catch behind to wicketkeeper Kumar Sangakkara.

Mail Cricket Editor